(Updates throughout after release of US inflation data)
LONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bond yields
fell on Wednesday as oil prices dipped and data showed U.S.
inflation cooled slightly on a year-over-year basis last month.
Traders were awaiting more details on talks to reopen the
Strait of Hormuz, although an imminent deal looked further away
amid new attacks on ships in the Gulf and a hardening of
positions by the U.S. and Iran.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump
said: "We totally control the Strait of Hormuz."
Oil prices remained relatively subdued, however, with
Brent crude down 0.3% at $88.80 a barrel.
Germany's 10-year bond yield, the benchmark for the euro zone,
extended an earlier fall on the back of U.S. inflation data and
was last down 4 basis points (bps) at 3.134%.
U.S. inflation came in at 3.4% on a year-over-year basis in
July, official data showed, down from 3.5% a month earlier and
in line with economists' expectations.
U.S. Treasury yields fell slightly after the data, which also
showed core inflation - which strips out volatile food and
energy prices - cooled slightly on a year-over-year basis last
month.
Germany's 2-year bond yield was last down 3 bps at
2.754%.
Investors and analysts said the U.S. central bank's Federal
Open Market Committee will want to look closely at August's
inflation reading before it makes its next interest rate
decision in September.
"With another round of inflation data due before the September
FOMC meeting, it remains all to play for, but today's in-line
report was a good start," said Lindsay Rosner, head of
multi-sector fixed income investing at Goldman Sachs Asset
Management.
Traders slightly trimmed their bets on further rate hikes this
year from the European Central Bank. Money markets last pointed
to 39 basis points of further monetary tightening, down around 1
bp from earlier in the session.
The size of the U.S. economy and its financial markets means
its economic data is closely watched around the world and can
influence expectations about other central banks' monetary
policy.