WASHINGTON - THE Federal Reserve says commercial banks and investment firms borrowed less from its emergency lending program over the past week.

The Fed report shows commercial banks averaged $86.3 billion (S$124.87 billion) in daily borrowing over the week that ended on Wednesday.

That was down from $88.4 billion (S$127.9 billion) in average daily borrowing logged over the week ended Dec 17.

Investment firms drew $45.7 billion over the week that ended Dec 24, compared to an average of $50.5 billion the previous week.

This category includes any loans that were made to the US and London-based broker-dealer subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. -- AP