TOKYO, April 5 (Reuters) - Japanese government bond prices were down on Tuesday although a steady 10-year bond auction outcome limited market losses.
The benchmark 10-year JGB yield was up 1.5 basis points at minus 0.070 percent after rising to as much as minus 0.065 percent. The 20-year bonds yielded 0.355 percent, up half a basis point, after rising to as high as 0.360 percent.
JGBs had come under pressure earlier in the day on caution ahead of Tuesday's 2.4 trillion yen ($21.66 billion) 10-year auction.
Soothing such caution, the bid-to-cover ratio, a gauge of demand, at the 10-year sale rose to 3.89 from 3.20 at the previous auction last month.
Investors tend to buy 10-year JGBs, despite their negative yields, as they can hope to sell the bonds for a profit at the Bank of Japan's regular debt-buying operations.
($1 = 110.8200 yen) (Reporting by the Tokyo markets team; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)