LONDON: Euro zone government bond yields were steady on Tuesday ahead of the release of bloc-wide inflation data following slightly hotter-than-expected French inflation and a day after other national data suggested core inflation is continuing to slow.

The German 10-year bond yield, the benchmark for the euro zone bloc, was little changed at 2.53%, down from a five-month high of 2.65% last week. European inflation is in focus on Tuesday.

French numbers showed consumer prices rose 2.4% year on year in April, above a 2.2% rise expected by analysts polled by Reuters.

The French 10-year yield was little changed at 3.03%, rising about 1 basis point after the data. Euro zone wide figures are due at 0900 GMT.

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German inflation rose slightly in April, Monday data showed, but core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, eased to 3.0% in April from 3.3% in March.

Analysts said the inflation prints should not disrupt market expectations that the European Central Bank will cut rates at its June meeting.

Italy’s 10-year yield was higher by 0.8 basis point? at 3.83%, and the gap between Italian and German bunds widened 1.2 basis points to 129 bps.