Fed Buys $10.3 Billion of Mortgages, Sells $1.5 Billion in Current Week

(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve bought $10.347 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities in the week from Apr. 9 to Apr. 15, compared with $6.459 billion purchased the previous week, the New York Federal Reserve Bank said on Thursday.

In a move to help the housing market begun in October 2011, the U.S. central bank has been using funds from principal payments on the agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities, or MBS, it holds to reinvest in agency MBS.

The New York Fed said on its website the Fed sold $1.5 billion in mortgage securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the Government National Mortgage Association, or Ginnie Mae, in the latest week. It sold none the prior week.