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 May 14, 2010. Accounts listed are all insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Savers may have noted recently that just when CD rates look to have bottomed out, banks are cutting annual percentage yields just a bit more. In this type of climate, it is good news (and perhaps the best you can hope for) when banks leave APYs alone. 6-month CD yields at top U.S. banks remained steady this week compared with earlier in May, a rare bright spot amid news that interest rates in general are forecast to stay low for a lot longer.

Aurora Bank FSB continues to hold the top spot, with a 1.27% APY for a 6-month CD with a minimum deposit of $1000. Discover Bank also kept its half-year term static, at 1.25% APY and a minimum balance of $500. Alabama’s Nexity Bank retains third place on this week’s BankShout list, at 1.21% APY and a $1000 minimum.

Ally Bank (Utah) is the one institution on our survey that raised yields. On its 6-month CD, Ally raised the APY to 1.19%, from 1.15% earlier in the month. No minimum deposit is required. Ally’s most recent yield boost puts the bank more in line with the 1.20% APY it had been offering in April.

NewdominonDirect.com rounds out the list; the Charlotte, North Carolina bank held steady at 1.17% APY for a minimum deposit of $3000.