Rates fall at weekly US Treasury auction

[November 21, 2012]  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.

[Associated Press]

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