Foreign holdings of US Treasury securities slip for second month to $6.06 trillion in October

Foreign buyers of U.S. Treasury securities trimmed their holdings by a small amount for the second straight month in October.

The Treasury Department says in its monthly report that foreign holdings dropped 0.1 percent to $6.06 trillion, a decline of $7.5 billion. That followed a drop of $200 million in September, which came after holdings had climbed to a record high of $6.07 trillion in August.

China, the top foreign buyer of U.S. Treasury debt, reduced its holdings by 1.1 percent to $1.25 trillion in October after a reduction of 0.3 percent in September. Japan, the No. 2 buyer, increased its holdings by $600 million to $1.22 trillion in October.

Demand for Treasury securities, still viewed as one of the world's safest investments, is expected to remain strong in 2015.