Treasury Yields Rise, Eurozone Bond Yields Fall, Focus Stays on France

A facts-only brief, written by a local AI model from this article in The Wall Street Journal, October 23, 2026. It may contain mistakes, and it is not the article: the full story is at wsj.com.

U.S. Treasury yields increased during European morning trade on Friday, reversing a sharp decline that occurred on Thursday as investors sought safe-haven assets amid turmoil in French government bonds. The 10-year Treasury yield rose 3.3 basis points to 4.985%, according to Tradeweb, after dropping below 5% for the first time in a month on Thursday. This movement followed weaker-than-expected October purchasing managers data for France, Germany, and the eurozone, which signaled a contraction in French business activity.

Background

• The 10-year French OAT yield fell to 5.040% on Friday after hitting a 24-year high on Thursday, while the spread between French and German bonds reached its highest level since 2011.
• Moody’s Ratings is reviewing France’s credit rating on Friday, with analysts noting that a downgrade is widely anticipated but a stable outlook would likely reduce market focus on the rating itself.
• The European Central Bank is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at its October 29 meeting, a decision informed by the recent economic data.
• French composite PMI data for October came in at 48.4, indicating a contraction in business activity and marking the first time confidence turned negative in nearly two years.

Read the full article at wsj.com

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