Rates rise on US Treasury bills to highest in 2 weeks

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction to their highest levels in two weeks.

The Treasury Department auctioned $36 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.490 percent, up from 0.480 percent last week. Another $30 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.610 percent, up from 0.605 percent last week.

The three-month rate was the highest since three-month bills averaged 0.515 percent two weeks ago. The six-month rate was the highest since those bills averaged 0.625 percent, also two weeks ago.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,987.61, while a six-month bill sold for $9,969.16. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.497 percent for the three-month bills and 0.620 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, rose to 0.81 percent last Friday after starting last week at 0.78 percent.