Fed's balance sheet hits record

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve's balance sheet rose to a record high in the latest week, Fed data released on Thursday showed, as the last of the U.S. central bank's mortgage support efforts came to a conclusion.

The Fed's balance sheet -- a broad gauge of its lending to the financial system -- increased to $2.322 trillion in the week ended April 14 from $2.290 trillion in the week ended April 7.

The Fed's program of buying mortgage securities came to a conclusion on March 31, though the figures suggest it was still taking delivery of some of those purchases.

The mortgage purchases were a pillar of the Fed's quantitative easing program that was adopted to hold down home borrowing costs in a bid to revive the battered housing sector and the economy.

The Fed's holdings of mortgage-backed securities backed by housing finance companies Fannie Mae FNM.N and Freddie Mac FRE.N rose to $1.102 trillion from $1.069 trillion a week ago.

However, the central bank's ownership of debt issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Bank System fell to $168.90 billion from the previous week's $168.99 billion.

The Fed's direct overnight lending to top-rated banks eased from last week. Primary credit via the Fed's discount window averaged $6.77 billion a day versus $7.21 billion in the previous week.

(Reporting by Burton Frierson, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)