The U.S. Federal Reserve's balance sheet was little changed in the latest week, Fed data released on Thursday showed.

The balance sheet -- a broad gauge of Fed lending to the financial system -- was little changed at $2.314 trillion in the week ended July 7, the same as the previous week after rounding.

While the balance sheet was little changed in the the most recent data, it remains near its record high of $2.334 trillion hit in May. After declining early last year, the balance sheet started accumulating mass amid the U.S. central bank's asset-buying program.

The program, known as quantitative easing, was aimed at broadly holding down borrowing costs and supporting the ailing housing market as the economy recovered from the worst recession in 70 years.

That effort was also led by the Fed's purchases of mortgage-related securities, which came to a conclusion at the end of March.

Since then, weekly balance sheet fluctuations have been influenced by the delivery of those securities, which have come at a lag.

The Fed's holdings of mortgage-backed securities backed by housing finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac totaled $1.118 trillion on July 7, which was also little changed after rounding.

The U.S. central bank's ownership of debt issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Bank System was unchanged at $164.76 billion.

Primary credit via the Fed's discount window averaged $41 million per day in the latest week, down from $162 million per day in the previous week.