Treasury bill rates mixed at weekly auction

[July 24, 2012]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were mixed in Monday's auction with rates on three-month bills unchanged and rates on six-month bills rising.

The Treasury Department auctioned $30 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.095 percent, unchanged from last week. An additional $27 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.140 percent, up from 0.135 percent last week.

The three-month rate was the highest since those bills averaged 0.100 percent on July 2. The six-month rate was the highest since those bills averaged 0.135 percent last week.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,997.59, while a six-month bill sold for $9,992.92. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.096 percent for the three-month bills and 0.142 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, declined to 0.18 percent last week from 0.20 percent the previous week.

[Associated Press]

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