Euro zone bond yields hold steady, down from six-week high

LONDON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Euro zone bond yields were little changed in thin trading on Thursday, just down from their highest level in a month as investors try to gauge the outlook for interest rates next year.

Germany's 10-year bond yield DE10YT=RR, the benchmark for the euro zone bloc, rose 0.5 basis points (bps) to 2.37%. It hit a six-week high of 2.405% on Friday before dipping on Monday. Yields move inversely to prices.

Italy's 10-year yield IT10YT=RR was higher by 1.6 bps at 3.54%, and the gap between Italian and German yields DE10IT10=RR stood at 115 bps.

Germany's two-year bond yield DE2YT=RR, which is more sensitive to European Central Bank interest rate expectations, was little changed at 2.08%, not far from last Friday's five-week high of 2.119%.

(Reporting by Harry Robertson; Editing by Toby Chopra)