U.S. Fed buys $17.4 billion of mortgage bonds, sells none

NEW YORK, (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve bought $17.398 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities in the week

from Mar. 12 to Mar. 18, compared with $878 million 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 no mortgage securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae (OTC: FNMA),

Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) or the Government National Mortgage Association, or Ginnie Mae,

in the latest week. It sold none the prior week.

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