Overview

• - French equities fell on Monday after Sébastien Lecornu's resignation, with the CAC 40 lower and bank shares under pressure, while the German market held steady.
• - Yields on 10-year French government bonds rose to about 3.60%, versus roughly 2.71% for German Bunds, now exceeding comparable Italian and Greek levels.
• - France carries about €3.3 trillion in public debt, roughly 114% of GDP, with a deficit near 5.8% that led the European Commission to open a deficit procedure in July 2024.
• - Fitch downgraded France in mid-September from AA- to A+, citing low prospects for fiscal reforms due to domestic polarization.
• - Market observers see low risk of eurozone-wide stress given ECB tools such as the Transmission Protection Instrument, even as Commerzbank economists warn France's debt ratio could exceed 150% within a decade without reforms.