Certificate of Deposit Interest Rates March 22, 2010

Bank certificate of deposit rates were mostly lower again this past week.  All bank CD terms experienced falling interest rates on the week with the exception of the five year maturity which remained unchanged.  The one year and two year CD rates were especially hard hit based on the weekly survey of bank rates performed by Selectcdrates.com.

The average rate for the top ten best six month CD rates was down by just one basis point or 1/100 of a percent.  The average six month CD rate ended the week at 1.28% down from the prior week’s average yield of 1.29%.  The highest six month CD rate was down significantly more than the average, the best six month CD rate available nationally fell to 1.31% from last week’ top rate of 1.36%.

The average rate for the top ten best one year CD rates available nationally was down two basis points, dropping from last week’s average yield of 1.66% to this week’s average interest rate of 1.64%.  Surprisingly, the highest one year certificate available nationally remained constant at 1.90%.

Two year CD rates were off by one basis point on the week with the average two year CD rate stepping down from 2.10% in the previous week to 2.08% this week.  The best two year CD rate also managed to hold its yield at 2.30%.

Five year CD rates held steady for the week.  The average CD interest rate for the top ten best five year bank CDs available nationally remained at 3.20%.  While the average rate held firm, the highest five year CD rate slipped.  The best five year CD rate moved lower by three basis points, falling from last week’s top rate of 3.36% to this week’s high rate of 3.33%.

Treasury rates have moved higher for most of March especially on the shorter term rates which could give a boost to future CD yields.  However, bank closures remain high and healthy banks have plenty of reserves in which to expand lending if the opportunity arises.  These conditions cause opposing forces on rates with the greater force coming from low demand for depositor funds from banks which leads to sustained low rates until market forces are significant enough to drive yields higher.

Tags: 1 year CD rates, 2 year CD rates, 5 year CD rates, 6 month CD rates, bank CD, bank rates, CD interest rate, CD rates, certificate of deposit rates, rates, treasury rates

This entry was posted on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 at 9:11 pm and is filed under CD Rate Updates. 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.