Euro, bond yields fall as ECB refrains from naming stimulus rollback date

LONDON, April 14 (Reuters) – Europe’s single currency and government bond yields across the region fell on Thursday after the European Central Bank signalled a steady reduction of stimulus over the coming months but refrained from switching to a more hawkish stance.

The ECB has been taking cautious steps for months to unwind support but has so far avoided a hard schedule, and Thursday’s decision was in a similar vein, confirming the direction of travel with few specifics beyond the coming months.

The euro turned negative against the dollar and was last down 0.25% at $1.0869.

Euro zone bond yields fell sharply, with two-year German bond yields last down almost 4 basis points on the day at 0.037%, versus 0.09% just before the ECB statement.

Italian yields were flat, having traded sharply higher earlier in the day.

Money markets trimmed rate hike bets and now price around 60 bps worth of tightening by year-end, versus the earlier 70 bps .

Euro zone stocks held onto gains and were up 0.5% following the announcement. (Reporting by the London markets team, Editing by Sujata Rao)