AMSTERDAM, April 1 Reuters Euro zone bond yields held ground on Thursday, having little reason to change direction in a balancing act between extended lockdowns, central bank support and data pointing to signs of economic recovery.

France announced late on Wednesday it would widen lockdown measures to the entire country starting Saturday, in the latest sign of the euro zones struggles to keep the coronavirus pandemic in check.

That topped dovish messaging in European Central Bank President Christine Lagardes Wednesday interview with Bloomberg News, where she said investors could test the banks willingness to rein in rising borrowing costs as much as they want. An end to its pandemic bond buying scheme in 2022 is not set in stone, she said.

The bank accelerated the pace of its bond buying at its March meeting, but that also means that without an increase to the size of the programme, the purchases will just run out earlier.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden announced a 2 trillionplus jobs plan on Wednesday, underscoring the virus recovery theme prevailing in markets.

All in all, euro area bond yields remained largely unchanged on Thursday. At 0739 GMT, Germanys 10year yield, the benchmark for the bloc, held at 0.30. Bond yields move inversely with prices.

European data on Thursday are focused on secondtier manufacturing surveys PMIs, with Spains sector activity growing more than expected in March and Italys expected to show a similar result, in line with…