EURO GOVT-Bunds briefly extend gains after Italian sale

LONDON, April 12 (Reuters) - German Bund futures briefly extended gains in choppy trade on Thursday after an Italian auction of a new tranche of three year bonds drew weaker-than-expected demand.

Italy paid a yield of 3.89 percent to sell 2.884 billion euros of March 2015 BTP bond, the highest since mid-January. One trader said some in the market had expected the Treasury to sell 3 billion euros worth of the bond.

Bund futures rose as much as 19 ticks on the day to a session high of 140.01. The contract was last at 139.90.

The Italian/German 10-year bond yield spread earlier widened to 385 basis points from 382 bps soon after the results, before tightening back to 379 bps.