Overseas cenbanks' Treasuries holdings surge: Fed
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Foreign central banks' holdings of U.S. Treasury securities at the Federal Reserve surged in the latest week, according to Fed data released on Thursday that showed intense bids for safe-haven assets in the current credit turmoil.
Foreign central banks' holdings of U.S. Treasuries at the Fed rose by $43.93 billion in the week ended Oct 1 to $1.513 trillion.
Their holdings of agency securities increased for a third consecutive week, following a federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on the weekend of September 7 in a bid to stabilize the faltering housing and financial markets.
Such holdings of these securities issued or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rose $2.51 billion to $969.24 billion in the week ended Oct 1.
The Fed's combined custody of Treasury and agency holdings for overseas central banks rose $46.44 billion to $2.482 trillion in the latest week.
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 Richard Leong, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
