Euro zone yields ease ahead of key German business sentiment data

April 24 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bond yields pulled back on Thursday from a sharp rise in the previous session as traders awaited data that was expected to show a decline in German business sentiment in April.

Germany's 10-year bond yield DE10YT=RR, the benchmark for the euro zone bloc, eased to 2.493%. It had risen 5.5 basis points on Wednesday, its biggest increase since early March, after a report that the United States was considering cutting its tariffs on Chinese imports.

U.S. President Donald Trump's global tariffs have whipsawed markets, and potential signs of easing in trade tensions were a relief to investors.

Global trade uncertainty, however, is expected to impact business morale, with the German Ifo index expected to show a drop in confidence in April.

That would follow data on Wednesday that pointed to stalling business activity growth in the euro zone area this month.

Italy's 10-year yield IT10YT=RR was lower by 1 bps at 3.62%, and the gap between Italian and German 10-year bonds DE10IT10=RR narrowed to 112 bps.

Germany's 2-year bond yield DE2YT=RR, which is more sensitive to European Central Bank rate expectations, steadied 0.5 bps at 1.742%.