The Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Thursday confirmed the estimated fair value of assets that were formerly held by Bear Stearns at about $29bn, about $1bn less than they were worth when the investment bank was sold to JPMorgan in March.

The Fed said the portfolio, of collateralised residential and commercial mortgage securities, is currently valued at $28.8bn. Many in the market had expected a larger decline in the portfolio given renewed weakness in mortgage securities during the second quarter.