After seeing early strength, treasuries turned lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, extending the recent downward trend.
Bond prices moved modestly higher in early trading but were unable to sustain the upward move and slid into negative territory. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 2.9 basis points to 1.952 percent.
With the turnaround on the day, the ten-year yield extended the upward move seen over the past several sessions, reaching its highest closing level in nearly two months.
The early strength among treasuries was partly due to worries about the global economy after JP Morgan (JPM) lowered its growth outlook for the Chinese economy.
Citing weak domestic demand, JP Morgan lowered its forecast for full-year Chinese economic growth to 7.6 percent from 7.8 percent. The firm also lowered its outlook for growth in the second quarter.
Buying interest remained relatively subdued, however, with comments from Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Charles Plosser limiting the upside.
In a speech in Stockholm, Plosser said he believes that labor market conditions warrant scaling back the pace of the Fed's asset purchases as soon as the next meeting in June.
Treasuries subsequently turned lower over the course of the session, with continued strength on Wall Street inspiring some traders to move their money out of bonds and into stocks.
Stocks benefited from comments from widely followed hedge fund manager David Tepper, who told CNBC he is "definitely bullish" on stocks and said "the economy is getting better."
Economic data is likely to be in focus on Wednesday, with traders keeping an eye on reports on producer price inflation, industrial production and homebuilder confidence.
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