Foreign Cenbanks U.S. Debt Holdings Slip in Week: Fed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Foreign central banks' holdings of U.S. Treasuries fell and agency debt holdings at the Federal Reserve rose in the latest week, 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 fell $1.240 billion to a total of $2.916 trillion in the week ended November 11.

Treasuries held by overseas central banks at the Fed fell $1.748 billion to total $2.154 trillion.

Foreign central banks' holdings of securities issued or guaranteed by the two biggest U.S. mortgage financing agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , rose by $509 millionto $761.78 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: http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h41/

(Reporting by Ellen Freilich; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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