Rates mixed at weekly US Treasury bill auction with 3-month rates down and 6-month rates up

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were mixed in Monday's auction with the rate on three-month bills declining to the lowest level since early March, while the rate on six-month bills rose.

The Treasury Department auctioned $24 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.020 percent, down from 0.025 percent last week. Another $24 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.095 percent, up from 0.090 percent last week.

The three-month rate was the lowest since three-month bills averaged 0.015 percent on March 9. The six-month rate was the highest since these bills averaged 0.105 percent two weeks ago on April 13.

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 $9,995.20. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.20 percent for the three-month bills and 0.097 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 0.24 percent last week from 0.23 percent the previous week.