* ECB meets Thursday, not expected to deliver more stimulus Pressure to address bond scarcity eases as bond yields edge up

* But tweaks to bond-buying scheme, QE extend not ruled out

* Euro zone yields 2-3 bps lower on Monday

By Dhara Ranasinghe

LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - A slight rise in euro zone bond yields in recent weeks has eased immediate pressure on the ECB to address a scarcity of bonds for its monetary stimulus programme when it meets this week, although a pre-emptive move is not being ruled out.

Having fallen quickly and sharply in the wake of June's Brexit vote, yields across the euro area have crept back up: German Bund yields are 15 basis points above record lows hit in July and French, Dutch and Finnish yields are 7-9 bps above record lows .

The small back-up in yields has created some space for the European Central Bank, which faces a scarcity of eligible bonds for its 1.7 trillion euro asset-purchase programme to boost inflation and growth. More bonds are now offering a yield above the bank's eligibility threshold.

While the ECB is expected to leave monetary policy unchanged when it meets on Thursday, the central bank could use the opportunity to tweak the parameters of its programme and so ease its bond scarcity issues.

"Even for Finland, at this level of yields, the (ECB) can probably still buy for another 5-6 months. Another fall in yields however could reduce that horizon, hence the ECB may want to be pre-emptive," analysts at Societe Generale said in a note.

In fact, bond yields across the euro area were about 2 basis points lower on Monday as Friday's weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data prompted investors to scale back expectations for a near-term rise in U.S. interest rates.

But it was the outlook for euro zone monetary policy that returned to focus as the ECB meeting loomed.

"The pressure to announce anything on the asset-purchase programme is a bit smaller but the pressure to act is coming," said Cyril Regnat, fixed income strategist at Natixis.

For Reuters new Live Markets blog on European and UK stock markets see reuters://realtime/verb=Open/url=http://emea1.apps.cp.extranet.thomsonreuters.biz/cms/?pageId=livemarkets

SCARCITY

About 57 percent of the German bonds on the ECB's shopping list are ineligible for its asset-purchase programme because they yield less than the deposit rate, according to Swiss wealth manager Pictet. That's not much changed from levels at the time of the ECB's last meeting in July.

Germany is the region's benchmark issuer and the bulk of purchases for the bond-buying programme are made there.