Rates mixed at US Treasury weekly auction

WASHINGTON (AP) - Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were mixed in Monday's auction. Rates on three-month bills dipped to their lowest level in three months, while rates on six-month bills were unchanged.

The Treasury Department auctioned $28 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.220 percent, down from 0.230 percent last week. Another $24 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.350 percent, the same as last week.

The three-month rate was the lowest since those bills averaged 0.215 percent on Jan. 11.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,994.44, while a six-month bill sold for $9,982.31. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.223 percent for the three-month bills and 0.355 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 down to 0.54 percent last week from 0.55 percent the previous week.