From our pals over at Reuters:

Foreign central banks US debt holdings fell in week-Fed

NEW YORK, Oct 8 (Reuters) – Foreign central banks’ holdings of U.S. Treasuries at the Federal Reserve fell in the latest week while agency debt holdings rose, 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 by $123 million to total $2.856 trillion in the week ended October 7, 2009.

Treasuries held by overseas central banks at the Fed fell $634 million to total $2.093 trillion.

Foreign central banks’ holdings of securities issued or guaranteed by the two biggest U.S. mortgage financing agencies, Fannie Mae (FNM.P) and Freddie Mac (FRE.P), rose by $512 millionto $763.39 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.