Rates mixed at weekly US Treasury bill auction

[April 30, 2013]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were mixed in Monday's auction with rates on three-month bills unchanged while six-month bills fell to the lowest level in 15 months.

The Treasury Department auctioned $29 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.050 percent, unchanged from last week. Another $24 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.080 percent, down from 0.085 percent last week.

The six-month rate was the lowest since these bills averaged 0.075 percent on Jan. 30, 2012.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,998.74 while a six-month bill sold for $9,995.96. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.051 percent for the three-month bills and 0.081 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 0.12 percent last week, the same as the previous week.

[Associated Press]

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