Interest rates unchanged in weekly US Treasury auction

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were unchanged in Tuesday's auction.

The Treasury Department auctioned $39 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.02 percent, the same rate as last week. Another $33 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 1.115 percent, also unchanged.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,974.22 while a six-month bill sold for $9,943.63. That would equal an annualized rate of 1.037 percent for the three-month bills and 1.137 percent for the six-month bills.

The weekly auction is normally held on Monday but was held on Tuesday this week because of the Labor Day holiday.

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, stood at 1.24 percent last Friday, up slightly from 1.23 percent the previous Tuesday, Aug. 29.