Foreign holdings of U.S. assets slip

In recent weeks, there's been lots of talk that the U.S. dollar is about to lose its position as the world's reserve currency -- the one currency that everyone depends on.

With the talk has been intimations that foreign governments are about to unload their assets denominated in dollars.

Is that true?

No, but international holdings of long-term U.S. financial assets rose at a slower pace in April, the Treasury Department said this morning.

The decline came as China, Japan and Russia trimmed their holdings of Treasury securities.

International holdings of Treasurys rose a net $41.9 billion, down from the $55.3 billion gain in March.

Purchases of long-term equities, notes and bonds rose a net $11.2 billion, compared with buying of $55.4 billion in March, Treasury said.

"China and Russia both indicated a desire to diversify out of dollar denominated instruments, and April seems to have emphasized their current position," Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at Bank of New York Mellon, told Bloomberg News.

Elizabeth Strott contributed to this report.