FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Prices of German government bonds rose slightly on Thursday following the publication of US inflation data. The benchmark Euro-Bund futures contract rose by 0.19 percent to 135.12 points by the afternoon. The yield on ten-year Bunds stood at 2.24 percent.

The stronger than expected rise in inflation in the USA weighed on bonds. The annual rate rose from 3.1 percent in the previous month to 3.4 percent in December. Economists had expected only 3.2 percent.

The data on price trends is important for the monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve, which has not recently raised its key interest rates any further. "Today's data do not provide any arguments for a rapid interest rate cut," write the economists at Commerzbank. "The US Federal Reserve will not want to risk damaging the credibility gained through the rapid rate hikes by lowering interest rates before inflation approaches the two percent target on a sustained basis."

There was little impetus from the eurozone. Industrial production in Spain, for example, rose more strongly than expected in November. In Italy, however, it fell unexpectedly sharply./jsl/he