Rates fall at weekly US Treasury auction
WASHINGTON (AP) — Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills fell in this week's auction with rates on six-month bills dropping to the lowest point since mid-September.
The Treasury Department auctioned $32 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.090 percent, down from 0.105 percent last week. Another $28 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.135 percent, down from 0.145 percent last week.
The three-month rate was the lowest since three-month bills averaged 0.085 percent on Oct. 1. The six-month rate was the lowest since these bills averaged 0.130 percent on Sept. 17.
The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,997.75, while a six-month bill sold for $9,993.21. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.091 percent for the three-month bills and 0.137 percent for the six-month bills.
Separately, the Federal Reserve said that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable-rate mortgages, edged down to 0.17 percent last week from 0.19 percent the previous week.
