ECB sounds cautious note on bond markets

London

THE cautious tone of eurozone central bankers in the wake of some of the best economic data in years sent mixed signals to investors in the bloc's debt markets on Wednesday.

Government bond yields across the region have been pegged near record lows in recent years as the European Central Bank (ECB) has spent trillions of euros on an asset purchase scheme and cut interest rates deep into negative territory.

But with the bloc's economy on its best run in a decade - exemplified by a survey showing German consumers the most optimistic in 16 years - and the ECB's purchase scheme set to expire in Decembe…