Fed adds bonds of major firms to portfolio

[Anta Assamey]

 

[Anta Assamey]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve added $428 million in bonds of individual companies through mid-June, making investments in familiar household names like Walmart and AT&T as well as a 

utility subsidiary of billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway holding company. 

The bond purchases are the first direct moves by the Fed to buy the bonds of individual companies under new programs set up to nurse the economy through the coronavirus pandemic. The Fed also added $5.3 billion corporate bond exchange traded funds.