Euro zone bond yields fall, central bank meetings in focus

Jan 27 (Reuters) - Euro zone bond yields fell on Monday, while investors readied for a string of central bank meetings this week, where markets expect the European Central Bank to cut interest rates.

Germany's 10-year bond yield DE10YT=RR, the benchmark for the euro zone, fell 5 basis points (bps) to 2.496%. On Friday the yield touched its highest since Jan. 16 at 2.569%.

Yields move inversely to prices.

Markets broadly expect the ECB to cut rates by 25 bps on Thursday, while investors will listen for clues about potential further reductions.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to hold rates steady.

Germany's two-year bond yield DE2YT=RR, which is more sensitive to ECB rate expectations, was down 4 bps at 2.251%.

Italy's 10-year yield IT10YT=RR was 2.5 bps​ lower at 3.632%, and the gap between Italian and German yields DE10IT10=RR widened 2 bps to 113 bps.