Spread rises to 160 on German inflation

(ANSA) - Rome, January 3 - The spread between Italian and German 10-year bond yields rose five points to 160 on higher-than-expected German inflation data of 1.7% Tuesday.
    The rise, expected to fuel an inflation bump across the eurozone, fuels the argument of fiscal hawks that the European Central Bank's quantitative easing (QE) programme should be eased.
    The spread, a gauge of confidence in the Italian economy, fell as low as 153.4 before the data were released, from 155 at Monday's close.
    The yield rose to 1.87%.