The ECB in mid-December pledged further rate hikes, triggering a bond sell-off which drove Germany's 10-year government bond yield from around 2% to its highest since July 2011 at 2.569%.It dropped later as inflation cooled off and fell more than 10 bps on Tuesday after Bloomberg News reported that ECB policymakers were considering a smaller, 25 bps interest rate hike at the March meeting.