LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bond

yields were steady on Tuesday ahead of the release of bloc-wide

inflation data following slightly hotter-than-expected French

inflation and a day after other national data suggested core

inflation is continuing to slow.

The German 10-year bond yield, the benchmark for

the euro zone bloc, was little changed at 2.53%, down from a

five-month high of 2.65% last week.

European inflation is in focus on Tuesday. French numbers

showed consumer prices rose 2.4% year on year in April, above a

2.2% rise expected by analysts polled by Reuters.

The French 10-year yield was little changed at

3.03%, rising about 1 basis point after the data.

Euro zone wide figures are due at 0900 GMT. German inflation

rose slightly in April, Monday data showed, but core inflation,

which excludes volatile food and energy prices, eased to 3.0% in

April from 3.3% in March.

Analysts said the inflation prints should not disrupt market

expectations that the European Central Bank will cut rates at

its June meeting.

​ Italy's 10-year yield was higher by 0.8 basis

point​ at 3.83%, and the gap between Italian and German bunds

widened 1.2 basis points to 129 bps.

(Reporting by Alun John

Editing by Ros Russell)