French bonds came under selling pressure Friday as the euro slipped, while the yen moved toward its strongest week since early September on safe-haven demand after an artificial-intelligence share selloff, Reuters reported.
Reuters’ 10:55 a.m. EDT (14:55 UTC) snapshot put the euro at $1.12, down 0.12% on the day and on course for a 0.35% weekly loss against the dollar. Against the yen, the euro touched a low of 175.08 yen, its weakest point since October 2025; it was down 0.31% at the time and heading for a 1.3% weekly decline. The yen stood at 156.45 per dollar, up 0.18%, with a weekly gain of about 0.9% in view.
Reuters linked the euro’s weakness to selling in French government bonds and political unrest. It said the risk premium attached to French debt had reached a level not seen since the 2011 sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone.
France’s Interior Ministry said demonstrations on Oct. 17 involved looting, attacks on public institutions and assaults on security forces. Its notice for the Oct. 24 mobilization listed specialized units RAID, BRI and GIGN. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced that 70,000 police and gendarmes would be deployed Saturday, according to the Associated Press.
Euro-area business growth slowed in October but remained positive. S&P Global’s Flash Eurozone PMI Output Index registered 51.9, down from 53.1 in September; readings above 50 indicate expansion. S&P Global said France had returned to contraction amid labor action, demonstrations and political uncertainty. Citi economist Giada Giani told Reuters that France was weighing on the bloc while other euro-area economies remained resilient.
The annual increase in Japan’s consumer-price index excluding fresh food accelerated to 2.1% in September, Statistics Bureau figures showed; it had been 1.7% in August. Markets were looking to policy meetings at the Federal Reserve on Oct. 27-28, the European Central Bank on Oct. 28-29, and the Bank of Japan on Oct. 29-30. Reuters said investors expected all three to keep rates unchanged and would watch for signals about future policy.
