By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar’s share of currency reserves reported to the International Monetary Fund was steady at 59.2% in the second quarter, compared with 59.5% in the first three months of the year, IMF data showed on Thursday.

Greenback is still the most important currency reserve held by international central banks.

These assets are held by central banks worldwide in different currencies. Their primary purpose is to help them meet their liabilities. Sometimes, central banks use their reserves to back their currency.

Marios Hadjikyriacos a senior analyst at online FX broker XM wrote, “The reserve currency [dollar] is arguably one of the most important defensive hedges left across all asset class, as neither the yen or gold are particularly attractive, in a global world of rising yields.”

The fell nearly 1% in the second quarter after gains of 3.6% in the first. After gaining 3.6% in the first quarter, the dollar saw a 2.1% gain during the third quarter.

In anticipation of tighter U.S. monetary policy, the greenback was supported by U.S. Treasury bonds over the past two weeks. The Fed last week announced that it might begin tapering stimulus in November. It also hinted at interest rate rises may be coming sooner than anticipated.

In the meantime, the euro’s percentage of foreign exchange reserves was not significantly different at 20.5% for the second quarter from 20.6% during the prior three months. The euro’s highest percentage was 28% in 2009.

From 2.4% in its first quarter, the’s share grew to 2.6% during the second quarter. China has gained its share for six consecutive quarters. The yuan reserve rose 7.2% to $311 million in the second quarter. In 2017, the IMF began tracking the share of the yuan.

IMF data showed that global reserves increased to $12.817 trillion during the second quarter, a record compared with $12.584 trillion the previous quarter.

Also, data showed that allocated US dollars reserves rose by 1.3% to $7.1 Trillion, as compared to $6.984 Trillion in the first.