Investing.com -- The U.S. government sold $69 billion of 2-year notes on Tuesday at a lower-than-expected yield on improved demand.

The notes were awarded at 3.984%, below the pre-sale, or when-issue, rate of 3.987%, and the 4.169% high seen in the prior auction.

The bid to cover ratio, a measure of demand for the auction rose to 2.66 from 2.56 seen in the prior auction.

Dealers made up 54.7% of the bids, with direct bidders at 9.5% and indirect bidders at 35.4%.