Rates on Treasury bills mixed at weekly auction

[October 23, 2012]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were mixed in Monday's auction: Rates on three-month bills dropped to the lowest level in three weeks, while rates on six-month bills were unchanged.

The Treasury Department auctioned $32 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.100 percent, down from 0.105 percent last week. Another $28 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.150 percent, unchanged from last week.The three-month rate was the lowest since these bills averaged 0.085 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 $9,997.47 while a six-month bill sold for $9,992.42. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.101 percent for the three-month bills and 0.152 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 unchanged at 0.18 percent last week, the same as the previous week.

[Associated Press]

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