About 550,000 people marched across France on Saturday over rising living costs and the state of French schools. Violence alongside the demonstrations led to nearly 2,400 arrests, while between 500 and nearly 1,000 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters were injured.
The unrest then met a market already focused on France’s public finances. European shares opened lower on Monday, led by Paris and Milan. The French CAC 40 fell 1.2% to 1.7%, while the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.7%.
Looters targeted about 1,500 shops, including 50 Carrefour stores. Alexandre Bompard, Carrefour’s chief executive and head of the French retail federation FCD, said the retail sector faced a bill running into hundreds of millions of euros. At Carrefour, he said, “the cost of the repairs will run to well over ten million euros.”
On Sunday night, President Emmanuel Macron condemned the “unbridled violence” in a televised address.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez acknowledged failures of anticipation and a loss of control in some cities, then offered to resign. Macron refused the offer, according to his office on Monday.
Thierry Guibert, chief executive of the fashion brand Lacoste, called on the French state through social media to act without delay to protect businesses and staff.
French bank shares were among the companies under pressure on Monday. Société Générale and BNP Paribas were each down more than 2%, while Carrefour shares also fell more than 2%.
Bond markets registered the sharper fiscal concern. The two-year French yield rose eight basis points to 3.63%, and the 30-year yield increased five basis points to 5.42%. The 10-year yield reached 4.86% to 4.89%.
The gap between French and German 10-year borrowing costs stood at 143.5 basis points, after topping 150 in early October. It was nearing the highest levels seen in 14 years.
The euro also weakened. It reached a 17-month low against the pound on Monday morning, with sterling rising to €1.188, and slipped 0.4% against the US dollar to $1.1197 in early trading. Another trading reading put the euro 0.2% lower against the US dollar at around $1.121 and 0.2% lower against the British pound at roughly £0.841.
France’s debt-to-GDP stood at 115.6% in 2025, compared with the UK’s 94.3%. Its budget deficit was 5.1% in 2025, against 4.3% for the UK.
Jim Reid of Deutsche Bank said the approaching 2027 election added a further layer of political risk for markets. Moody’s is due to review France’s Aa3 credit rating, which has a negative outlook, on Friday.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu was set to chair a crisis meeting on Monday. Unions have called a national strike for 5 November.
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