Rates mixed at weekly Treasury bill auction

[January 15, 2013]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were mixed in Monday's auction with rates on three-month bills rising to the highest level in three weeks while rates on six-month bills were unchanged.

The Treasury Department auctioned $28 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.075 percent, up from 0.065 percent last week. Another $32 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.105 percent, the same as last week.

The three-month rate was the highest since those bills averaged 0.085 percent on Dec. 26.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,994.69, while a six-month bill sold for $9,998.10. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.107 percent for the three-month bills and 0.076 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, edged down to 0.14 percent last week from 0.15 percent the previous week.

[Associated Press]

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