Treasury Bill Auctions See Weak Demand

Two U.S. Treasury bill auctions - $24 billion three-month bills and $26 billion in six-month bills - saw lower-than-expected demand, leading yields to close 0.5 basis point above the market's expectation. "Today's auctions probably suffered a bit from quarter-end balance sheet constraints. Although yields in the three- and six-month sector are very low, these auctions settle after quarter-end, so demand is not quite as high," said Thomas Simons, vice president at broker-dealer Jefferies LLC. Indirect bidders, a group that include foreign financial institutions, took down 27.9% of the six-month auction, the smallest since January 26th.