TOKYO, May 12 (Reuters) - Japanese government bonds sold off sharply on Tuesday, after tepid demand at a 10-year sale prompted more selling in a market already weakened by an overnight drop in U.S. Treasuries.
The 10-year JGB futures price shed 0.60 point to 146.60 after dropping as low as 146.32 in afternoon trade, its lowest level since mid-November.
The cash 10-year JGB yield rose 6 basis points to 0.450 percent, after rising as high as 0.470 percent, which matched a high touched on March 10. That was its highest since November 2014, and more than double its record low of 0.195 percent touched on Jan. 20.
On Monday, U.S. Treasury yields jumped ahead of this week's $64 billion in new debt sales. Continuing weakness in German Bunds also pressured fixed income assets.
Japan's Ministry of Finance offered 2.3 trillion yen ($19.14 billion) worth of 10-year JGBs with a coupon of 0.4 percent. It sold 2.194 trillion yen at a lowest price of 99.57 and a yield of 0.445 percent, which fell short of market expectations.
The bid-to-cover ratio, a gauge of demand, deteriorated to 2.24 from last month's 2.75, while the tail between the average and accepted lowest prices widened to 0.10 from 0.04 at April's 10-year sale.
($1 = 120.1500 yen) (Reporting by Tokyo markets team; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)