Bernanke, a former Fed governor, was tapped for the top Fed post on Monday by President George Bush. All signs point to a relatively easy confirmation for the former Princeton economics professor.
On top of general uncertainties about a new chairman heading the central bank, there were fears that a new "Bernanke Fed" could be less vigilant on prices and more friendly to inflation targeting than the body chaired by Alan Greenspan for the past 18 years.
This pushed yields higher and caused the spread between short-term and long-term yields to widen a bit.
"He's been wrong about what's happening with inflation for two years. He's more focused on structural disinflation forces than he is on the cyclical inflationary forces from excessive accommodation," said Josh Stiles, senior bond strategist at IDEAglobal.
Still, Bernanke had been seen for several weeks as the front-runner for the Fed position.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 15/32 for a yield of 4.45 percent, up from 4.38 percent on Friday but shy of the pivotal 4.50 percent level tested last week.
Bernanke "is a known quantity and that's important. His economic views are consistent with Greenspan. The most important things are similarities," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial in New York.
However, Bernanke - in contrast to Greenspan - is an advocate of inflation targets, or rules that would require the Fed to take certain actions if inflation reached some predetermined level.
This worries some in the bond market who think it can be overdependent on past inflation data instead of anticipating economic developments.
Dealers are anxious to see how Bernanke would promote a targeting agenda at the central bank.
Several Fed officials have talked tough on inflation recently but have stopped short of endorsing formal targets rather than a "comfort zone" on inflation.
Even before the Bernanke news, Treasuries were struggling due to higher equities prices and lower energy prices.
The 10-year note yield on Friday dipped as low as 4.38 percent, the lowest since Oct, 11, leaving the market vulnerable to a reversal, traders said.
Other economic news was scarce but several reports - including October consumer confidence and September existing home sales - are due on Tuesday.
Some traders expect range-bound trading through Friday, when the market gets its first look at third-quarter gross domestic product growth.
The two-year/10-year yield spread widened to 19 basis points from 17 basis points on Friday. The curve spread has been hovering in a trading band for almost two months after its cycle low of 12 basis points on August 29. The 30-year bond fell 31/32 to yield 4.66 percent, up from 4.60 percent.