BankShout looks at the top annual percentage yields (APY) for 6-month certificate of deposit terms. Banks polled are U.S. national and Internet banks, and yields are current as of April 19, 2010.

Sometimes a little drop in savings rates is the best you can hope for. In the current atmosphere for consumer deposit rates, sometimes a small dip in yields is a pleasant surprise. Rather than banks slashing 6-month CD yields this week, the leaders in APY for the half-year term cut APYs only slightly, while other banks held steady.

The mini-trend in 6-month CDs is to cut by 1 basis point. For instance, Aurora Bank, FSB, is still the national leader in 6-month certificate APY, at 1.28% for a $1000 deposit, down from 1.29% in early April. Nexity, based in Alabama, followed suit, with an APY of 1.27%, also for a minimum deposit of $1000, down from 1.28% earlier this month.

Two of the top banks held 6-month yields steady. Discover Bank still offers 1.25% APY on deposits of at least $2500, while Ally Bank has 1.20% APY with no minimum deposit. The biggest cut of the week on 6-month terms is courtesy of newdominionDIRECT, an Internet bank based in North Carolina, which continued its rate-cutting ways of the last several months by dropping to 1.17% APY for a $3000 minimum balance, down from 1.21% in early April.

At some point, BankShout followers may notice that certificate of deposit yields have little room left to cut, especially on shorter terms that were already offering up meager APYs. In this anti-savers’ climate, a bank that holds its CD yields steady is to be commended.