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Rates fall at weekly US Treasury bill auction

[December 19, 2012]  (AP) -- Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills fell in Monday's auction to their lowest levels since January.

The Treasury Department auctioned $32 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.04 percent, down from 0.09 percent last week. Another $28 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.09 percent, down from 0.135 percent last week. The three-month rate was the lowest since those bills averaged 0.025 percent on Jan. 17. The six-month rate was the lowest since those bills averaged 0.075 percent on Jan. 30. The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,998.99, while a six-month bill sold for $9,995.45. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.041 percent for the three-month bills and 0.91 percent for the six-month bills. Separately, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable-rate mortgages, was 0.15 percent last week, down from 0.18 the previous week. [Associated Press] Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.