Interest Rates Decline On Short-Term T-Bills
ÐÊ	Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities fell slightly in yesterdayjs auction to their lowest rate in two weeks.</br></br>The Treasury Department sold $6.42 billion in three-month bills at an average discount rate of 6.84 percent, down from 6.96 percent last week. An additional $6.41 billion in six-month bills were sold at an average discount rate of 7.21 percent, down from 7.34 percent last week.</br></br>The discount rate understates the actual yield to investors. The investment, or coupon-equivalent, rate was 7.08 percent on the 13-week bills at an average price of $9,827.10 per $10,000 face value. The investment rate on the 26-week bill was 7.61 percent at an average price of $9,635.50 per $10,000 face value.</br></br>ÐÊ	Oil prices plummeted by 42 cents a barrel yesterday as panic selling on Wall Street spilled over onto the New York Mercantile Exchange and wiped out early gains sparked by the U.S. attack on an Iranian oil platform in the Persian Gulf.</br></br>Oil traded on international markets surged by as much as 45 cents a barrel immediately after four Navy destroyers damaged an armed Iranian oil platform in retaliation for Tehran's missile strike against a U.S.-flagged Kuwaiti oil tanker yesterday.