Rates on 3- and 6-month bills fall at weekly US Treasury auction

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills fell in Monday's auction.

The Treasury Department auctioned $24 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.020 percent, down from 0.040 percent last week. Another $24 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.105 percent, down from 0.145 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 lowest since those bills averaged 0.095 percent, also on March 9.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,994.94, while a six-month bill sold for $9,946.92. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.020 percent for the three-month bills and 0.107 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 0.25 percent last week, the same as the previous week.