Foreign central banks' US Treasury holdings up-Fed
NEW YORK, July 2 (Reuters) - Foreign central banks' holdings of U.S. debt at the Federal Reserve rose overall in the latest week although agency holdings fell, data from the U.S. central bank showed on Thursday.
The combined holdings of Treasuries and agency securities by foreign central banks at the Fed rose $27.903 billion to total $2.782 trillion in the week ended July 1.
Treasuries held by overseas central banks at the Fed rose $28.965 billion to $1.977 trillion.
However, holdings of securities issued or guaranteed by the two biggest U.S. mortgage financing sources, Fannie Mae (FNM.P) and Freddie Mac (FRE.P), fell $1.061 billion to $805.290 billion in the latest week.
Overseas central banks, particularly in Asia, have been huge buyers of U.S. debt in recent years and own more than a quarter of marketable Treasuries. China recently overtook Japan as the biggest such buyer. (The full Fed report can be found on: here) (Reporting by Chris Reese; Editing by James Dalgleish)
