Rates mixed at weekly Treasury auction

[November 14, 2012]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were unchanged in Tuesday's auction.

The Treasury Department auctioned $32 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.105 percent, unchanged from last week. Another $28 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.145 percent, down from 0.150 percent the previous week.

The six-month rate was the lowest since those bills averaged 0.135 percent on Oct. 1.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,997.35 while a six-month bill sold for $9,992.67. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.106 percent for the three-month bills and 0.147 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 up to 0.19 percent last week from 0.18 percent the previous week.

The weekly Treasury auction was held on Tuesday rather than Monday because of the federal holiday for Veterans Day.

[Associated Press]

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