Rates rise at weekly US Treasury bill auction
WASHINGTON (AP) — Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday’s auction to the highest in five weeks.
The Treasury Department auctioned $32 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.080 percent, up from 0.075 percent last week. Another $28 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.100 percent, up from 0.095 percent last week.
The three-month rate was the highest since these averaged 0.130 percent five weeks ago on Oct. 15. The six-month rate was the highest since these bills averaged 0.150 percent, also on Oct. 15.
The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,997.98 while a six-month bill sold for $9,994.94. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.081 percent for the three-month bills and 0.101 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 up to 0.13 percent last week from 0.11 percent the previous week.