LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bond

yields edged higher on Monday, showing little initial reaction

to the attempted assassination of U.S. presidential candidate

Donald Trump over the weekend.

The European Central Bank meets later this week but is not

expected to make any change to monetary policy.

German 10-year bond yield, the benchmark for the

wider euro zone, was up 2.5 basis points at 2.495%. The two-year

yield, which is more sensitive to shifts in

expectations of ECB policy, was up 1 bp at 2.83%.

"With only marginal macro changes, there is no need for the

ECB to change its policy stance on Thursday. In fact, it seems

as if a majority at the ECB is broadly fine with current market

expectations of one to two more rate cuts this year," ING rates

strategist Carsten Brzeski said.

The derivatives market currently shows traders expect at

least one more rate cut from the ECB, with a possibility of

another before year-end.

Italy's 10-year yield rose 2.5 bps to 3.82%,

leaving the premium over German Bund yields 1.6

bps narrower at 129 bps.

French 10-year yields were steady at 3.161%,

having fallen in six out of the last 10 sessions, as investor

nerves over the political backdrop in the country have subsided

since an election last week resulted in a hung parliament.