Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were mixed in Tuesday's auction with rates on six-month bills unchanged while rates on three-month bills fell to the lowest level since late 2011.
The Treasury Department auctioned $24 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.010 per cent, down from 0.015 per cent last week. Another $27 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.040 per cent, unchanged from last week.
The three-month rate was the lowest since these bills averaged 0.005 per cent on Dec. 19, 2011.
The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,999.75 while a six-month bill sold for $9,997.98. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.010 per cent for the three-month bills and 0.041 per cent for the six-month bills.
The weekly auction of three-month and six-month bills, normally held on Monday, was held on Tuesday this week because of the Columbus Day holiday.
Separately, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, edged down to 0.10 per cent last week from 0.11 per cent the previous week.
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.