Fed to make outright US agency coupon buy on Tuesday

NEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve will make an outright purchase of U.S. agency coupons on Tuesday, the New York Fed's website said on Monday.

The program to make permanent purchases of Fannie Mae (FNM.P), Freddie Mac (FRE.P) and Federal Home Loan Banks debt is an ongoing effort to lower mortgage rates.

After Tuesday's operation, the Fed "does not intend to purchase direct obligations of housing-related GSEs for the remainder of 2008," the website said. However, the Fed's Open Market Trading Desk "reserves the right to conduct additional purchases based on market conditions," it added.

For more details on the operation please click on: here (Reporting by John Parry; Editing by Dan Grebler)