Foreign holdings of US Treasuries rose in November

Jan 17 (Reuters) - Foreign holdings of U.S. Treasuries rose in November but held below a record high reached in September, as China increased its portfolio of U.S. debt, data from the Treasury Department showed on Friday.

Holdings of U.S. Treasuries rose to $8.635 trillion in November from $8.583 trillion in October. Holdings had risen as high as $8.672 trillion in September.

Japan's Treasuries holdings decreased to $1.099 trillion from $1.102 trillion the previous month. Japan remains the largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury securities. China, which is No. 2, increased its holdings to $768.6 billion from $760.1 billion in October.

Treasury yields surged heading into the Nov. 5 U.S. elections as traders bet that Republican electoral victories would lead to policies that boost growth and potentially inflation.

Republicans won control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, and Republican President-elect Donald Trump is due to be sworn in on Monday.

Treasury yields eased in the second half of November before climbing again, with benchmark 10-year yields US10YT=RR reaching a 14-month high earlier this week.

(Reporting by Karen Brettell; Editing by Leslie Adler)

((karen.brettell@tr.com))