CD Rates, Bank Rates and Treasury Rates March 1, 2010

As the last week of February drew to a close, Treasury rates made a rather significant move lower.  The one year Treasury rate started the week of February 22nd at 0.39% and closed the week at 0.32%.  The two year fell from 0.95% to 0.81%, a stunning 14 basis points or 14/100 of a percent reduction in rate for the week.  The ten year made a similar move, falling from 3.78% to 3.61%.  With the exception of one day this year, February 5th, all three of these Treasury yields are at their low point for 2010.

Bank certificate of deposit rates didn’t follow the Treasury lead for the week; this of course would be expected when Treasury rates move abruptly.  CD rates however, have been on a steady downward spiral through most of the first two months of the year.

Short term CD yields held their ground for the week.  The average rate on the top ten best six month CD rates available nationally remained unchanged at 1.32%.  The six month CD rate started 2010 with an average yield that was 15 basis points higher at 1.47%.

The average one year CD rate lost one basis point on the week, closing with an average yield of 1.72%.  The average of the top ten best one year CD rates began this year at 1.88%. 

Two year CD rates bucked the trend and gained one basis point in yield for the week.  The average of the best two year CD rates available nationally stood at 2.13%.  This is still considerably less than just two months ago when the average interest rate was 2.24%.

Meanwhile, the average five year bank CD yield slid by two basis points to close out the last week of February with an interest rate of 3.28%.  Surprisingly, this average yield is unchanged from where it started 2010.

Compared to the Treasury rates, CD rates look remarkably enticing.  And with the Federal Reserve Chairman’s testimony in Congress last week forecasting low levels of inflation and a fed funds rate at 0-.025% for an extended period of time, CD interest rates appear to have very little force that could propel them higher.

Interest rates in general have been forecast to go higher for the better part of the past 6 months by numerous economists, forecasts that have clearly missed the mark.  As 2010 has drawn along, CD rates and Treasury rates have only moved lower.  According to our sister publication, selectautorates.com, car loan rates have fallen this year as well, albeit at much smaller magnitude than CD rates. 

Competition among banks appear to have heated up slightly in February with more odd term CD rates being promoted with higher than average rates in both the national markets and among state chartered banks.

To find updated CD rates in the regional markets by state and among the top ten CD rates available nationally by term, visit the CD rates tables at selectcdrates.com.

Tags: bank CD, bank CD rates, bank rates, CD interest rates, certificate of deposit rates, interest rates, one year CD rates, selectcdrates.com, six month CD rates, treasury rates

This entry was posted on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 2:56 am and is filed under Money Rates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.