France hit by debt sell-off as protests unnerve investors

France was hit by a fresh wave of selling in its bond and stock markets on Monday after violent Protests over the weekend left public buildings burned, hundreds of shops looted and thousands of arrests across the country.Almost 2,400 people have been arrested in France, the interior ministry said on Sunday, with police deploying teargas in confrontations with protesters.The French president, Emmanuel Macron, condemned the “unbridled violence” in a televised address on Sunday night.“Looking at these images, we all asked ourselves: what is going through their minds? How can French people do this to France?” he said.The chaos has spooked investors in France’s government debt, with the yield on its 10-year yield rising by seven basis points to 4.849%. Yields rise when prices fall.This widened the difference between the French and German 10-year borrowing costs – which is a metric for the risk premium attached to French debt.Meanwhile, the two-year yield rose by 2.5 basis points to 3.571%.Violence erupted across the country after weeks of peaceful demonstrations over conditions in schools and the cost of living.While tens of thousands of people have attended peaceful marches to demand more teachers and repairs to decrepit schools, different groups have clashed with police in cities including Paris, Bordeaux, Nice and Marseille.Jim Reid of Deutsche Bank said the Protests “won’t make it easy for the international community to be totally comfortable buying OATs [French government bonds]”.He said: “With France already facing a difficult fiscal backdrop and the 2027 election approaching, the weekend adds another layer of political risk for markets.”The 30-year bond, which is a benchmark for the French government’s long-term cost of borrowing, rose by three basis points to 5.397%.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe rise in borrowing costs will add further strain to France’s public finances, as the government also tries to pass a budget for next year to rein in its deficit.France’s debt-to-GDP stood at 1115.6% in 2025, while its budget deficit was 5.1%, compared with 94.3% and 4.3% for the UK respectively.The French government is preparing a budget that would involve cutting pensions spending and funding for government departments, excluding defence. However, there are growing fears that political pressure could derail these plans, which could push up borrowing and add more to the country’s debt pile.The euro also slipped slightly against the US dollar, down by 0.13% in early trading on Monday, falling to $1.122.The French Cac 40, which tracks the biggest companies listed in Paris, fell by 1% at the start of trading in Paris, compared with a 0.4% drop on the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index.