Foreign central banks' US debt holdings fall - Fed

NEW YORK Nov 25 (Reuters) - Foreign central banks' overall holdings of U.S. marketable securities at the Federal Reserve fell sharply in the latest week, data from the U.S. central bank showed on Friday.

The Fed said its holdings of U.S. securities kept for overseas central banks declined $19.46 billion in the week ended Nov 23, to stand at $3.450 trillion.

The breakdown of custody holdings showed overseas central banks' holdings of Treasury debt tumbled by $20.45 billion to stand at $2.730 trillion.

But foreign institutions' holdings of securities issued or guaranteed by the biggest U.S. mortgage financing agencies, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , rose by $985 million to stand at $719.72 billion.

Overseas central banks, particularly those in Asia, have been huge buyers of U.S. debt in recent years and own more than a quarter of marketable Treasuries. China and Japan are the biggest two foreign holders of Treasuries.

These data are typically released on Thursday. The U.S. government released them a day later after it was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The full Fed report can be found on: