US Treasury bills mixed at auction with rates on 3-month bills rising to highest in 5 weeks

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 five weeks while rates on six-month bills were unchanged.

The Treasury Department auctioned $26 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.020 percent, up from 0.015 percent last week. Another $26 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.065 percent, unchanged from last week.

The three-month rate was the highest since these bills averaged 0.025 percent on Jan. 20.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,999.49 while a six-month bill sold for $9,996.71. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.020 percent for the three-month bills and 0.066 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 0.24 percent last week, unchanged from the previous week.