AMSTERDAM, March 4 Reuters Euro zone bond yields dipped on Thursday after a global bond selloff a day earlier that spooked markets, with focus on a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell due later in the day.

Bets that U.S. stimulus would boost inflation and growth pushed government bonds worldwide to their worst performance in years in February. Central banks so far have appeared relatively sanguine about the rise in bond yields.

Yields are down from their highs this week, but pressure remains. U.S. Treasury yields rose on Wednesday, alongside euro area government bond yields and UK gilts, pushing stock markets and other lowyielding safe assets lower on Thursday.

On Thursday, Germanys 10year yield was last down around 2 basis points to 0.31 at 1110 GMT, after rising 5 basis points on Wednesday, still moving in tandem with U.S. Treasuries, where yields fell similarly.

Italian bond yields were last unchanged, pushing up the gap between 10year Italian and German yields a touch higher to around 104 bps.

Focus on Thursday is on a speech by the Feds Powell, who investors will watch for any hints of concern about the recent jump in bond yields.

Mikael Olai Milhoj, senior analyst at Danske Bank, noted that inflation expectations moved higher together with inflationadjusted real bond yields on Wednesday, a move he said would be more acceptable from the Feds perspective.

Such a move implies that the rise in yields is driven by expectations of a pickup in…