Foreign central banks cut U.S. agency holdings-Fed

NEW YORK, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Foreign central banks reduced their U.S. agency security holdings at the Federal Reserve by $9.75 billion in the latest week to a total of $958.57 billion, according to data from the central bank released on Thursday.

The data may add to recent evidence that overseas investors are worried about the troubled mortgage giants.

The drop marked a seventh straight week of declines in offshore central bank holdings of bonds issued or guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises like Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N), which have recently taken center stage in the U.S. housing crisis.

Overall, the Fed's holdings of U.S. Treasury and agency securities kept for overseas central banks, including Treasury notes and bonds as well as agency securities, fell by $13.48 billion to stand at a total of $2.395 trillion in the latest week ending Sept. 3, the Fed data showed.

Overseas central banks reduced their Treasury debt holdings by $3.72 billion to stand at $1.437 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:

here (Reporting by John Parry; Editing by James Dalgleish)