Euro zone bond markets pause

LONDON: Most euro zone government bond yields were little changed on Thursday, with the market largely sidelined ahead of a European Central Bank meeting.

Italy´s debt market was the outlier, with yields there rising ahead of a sale of up to 7.75 billion euros of bonds.

The ECB is expected to keep policy unchanged, making only nuanced tweaks to its guidance to stay on course to end its 2.6 trillion euro stimulus this year and raise interest rates next autumn.

At the same time, slight downward revisions to economic growth forecasts are anticipated following a string of weak figures over the summer months.

ECB chief Mario Draghi may also be pressed for clarity on the timing of a rate hike and for more details on the bank´s plans to reinvest funds from maturing bonds it holds under quantitative easing.

"Our sense is that we will get a dovish press conference from Draghi," said Dean Turner, an economist at UBS Wealth Management in London. "The economy is doing fine and inflation is printing at or around target - but the immediate concern for us is that Italy continues to make headlines, as does Brexit, and trade.