Foreign holdings of US Treasury rise in May; China ups holdings for first time since January

Foreign buyers of U.S. Treasury securities increased their holdings in May to another record high.

The Treasury Department reported Wednesday that total foreign holdings rose 0.3 percent to $5.98 trillion, up from $5.96 trillion in April.

China, the top foreign buyer of U.S. Treasury debt, increased its holdings for the first time since January, raising them by 0.6 percent to $1.27 trillion. Japan, the second-biggest foreign buyer, increased its holdings by 0.9 percent to $1.22 trillion.

Russia reduced its Treasury holdings by 4.3 percent to $111.4 billion and well below the recent high of $149.9 billion last October

Foreign demand for Treasury debt is expected to stay strong this year, helped by a congressional agreement to avoid a fight over the U.S. debt ceiling until March 2015.