All stocks listed in France are now worth about $3.13 trillion in total, compared with $3.18 trillion for all shares listed in the United Kingdom, Bloomberg reported Monday, based on the data it had compiled. On Tuesday, the CAC All-Share index in Paris was still marginally bigger than London’s FTSE equivalent, but the latter only accounts for 98% of the market value of UK-listed shares.
Another reason for the rout in French banking stocks is the fact that “banks own quite a lot of the country’s public debt,” he added. The prices of those government bonds have fallen since June 9, driving up their yields or interest rates demanded by investors as they see a higher risk in holding the debt. A parliament dominated by the far right could make it harder to reduce France’s huge government debt pile, equal to 110.