Oct 1 (Reuters) - European bond yields edged lower on Friday tracking a broad-based overnight drop in U.S. Treasury yields though yields on core German debt are set to rise for a sixth consecutive week before a report that is likely to show inflation pressures in the eurozone soaring to a 13-year high.

Headline inflation in the eurozone probably rose to 3.3% on an annual basis in September, its highest since 2008, and faster than 3% in August with energy prices likely driving much of the increase.

The data comes after some price measures in Germany and France on Thursday showed a pickup in inflationary pressures even as top European central bank policymakers have downplayed the rise in inflation as transitory.

French inflation hit a near 10-year high of 2.7% in September, official data showed, though slightly below forecast.

German consumer prices, harmonised to make them comparable with inflation data from other European Union countries, rose by 4.1% year-on-year compared with 3.4% in August, the highest rate recorded since January 1997, when the EU-harmonised series began.

On Friday, benchmark 10-year German bond yields softened 3 bps to a three-day low at -0.223% after yields spiked to three-month highs at -0.174% on Tuesday.

The drop in yields follows a broad-based decline in U.S. Treasury yields across the board with yields on benchmark U.S. 10-year debt falling 5 bps below the psychologically important 1.50%.

While the drop in yields was largely attributed to quarter-end positioning flows, there was no escaping the fact that September was one of the worst monthly performances for bond markets thanks to the deadly combination of higher inflation expectations and hawkish central banks.

Deutsche Bank notes that U.S. Treasuries were down 1.2% over the last month, which is their worst monthly performance since February. The rise in yields was reflected across the major bond markets with Germany, French and Italian yields up on a monthly basis.

Elsewhere, yields on benchmark British government debt stabilised after spiking to their highest levels in more than two years on Thursday.

(Reporting by Saikat Chatterjee; Editing by Giles Elgood)