Freddie Mac sees weaker demand for bills, rates mixed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Freddie Mac's FRE.N $2 billion bill sale on Tuesday drew weaker demand but interest rates were mixed compared with the most recent sales of the same maturities.

Freddie Mac on Tuesday sold $1 billion of three-month bills due Dec. 1, 2008 at a 2.568 percent rate, compared with a 2.580 rate for $1 billion of similar maturity bills sold on Aug. 25.

Freddie Mac also sold $1 billion of six-month bills due March 2, 2009 at a 2.860 percent rate, compared with 2.858 percent for the same size sale of the same maturity a week earlier.

Demand for the three-month bills was lower than a week earlier, based on a bid-to-cover ratio of 3.73 compared with 3.95.

Demand for the six-month bills was lower than a week earlier, based on a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.67 compared with 3.42.

A bid-to-cover ratio reflects the amount of bids compared with the amount offered. A lower ratio indicates weaker demand.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by James Dalgleish)