CORRECTED-Foreign cenbanks reduce agency holdings for sixth week
Corrects headline, first paragraph and second paragraph of Aug 28 story to show foreign central banks reduced their holdings of the debt held at the Federal Reserve, instead of selling agency securities. Also corrects references to "agency debt" to "agency securities" throughout story.
NEW YORK, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Foreign central banks reduced their agency security holdings at the Federal Reserve by $3.96 billion this week, according to data from the central bank, possibly adding to recent evidence that overseas investors are worried about the troubled mortgage giants.
The drop marked a sixth straight week of declines in offshore central bank holdings of bonds issued or guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have recently taken center stage in the U.S. housing crisis.
It brought the total five-week decline to about $17.6 billion.
Overall, overseas institutions' total holdings of U.S. debt, including Treasury notes and bonds as well as agency securities, rose $13.57 billion on the week to $2.409 trillion.
The overall rise came because foreign central banks bought government debt rather than agency securities, adding $17.53 billion to Treasury holdings on the week for a total of $1.441 trillion.
Overseas central banks, particularly those in Asia, have been huge buyers of U.S. debt in recent years, and own over a quarter of marketable Treasuries.
The full Fed report can be found on:
(Reporting by Burton Frierson, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
