9th September 2025
Samuel Fuller, Director at Financial Markets Online, commented:
“France is starting to look like Italy in the bad old days - drowning in debt and with a revolving door on the Prime Minister’s palace."
“Yields on French bonds are creeping up as institutional investors fret that the country is inching towards a doom loop, and there’s every chance the Fitch ratings agency could downgrade France’s credit rating as soon as this Friday."
“The reason isn’t so much the fall of another Prime Minister, it’s more the lack of options President Macron has to fix the mess."
“Whoever he chooses to succeed the ill-fated Mr Bayrou, they are likely to be paralysed by a Parliament polarised into hard left and far right. The chances of French MPs approving a Budget by next month’s deadline look vanishingly slim."
“And with as many as 100,000 protestors due to take to the streets tomorrow, French politics could be heading for a brick wall. The protestors call themselves 'Let’s block everything’ and that about sums it up."
“For now French stocks are firmly in relief rally territory, but the calm will be temporary. Significant volatility looms and this week will be as bumpy for international investors as it is for French themselves.”