French 10-year bond yield tops 5% for first time since 2002

The 5% threshold is less about the level itself than about the loss of a psychological anchor that has held for over two decades, and the near-parallel move in the two-year shows this is a repricing of French risk rather than a simple duration story. The fact that Italian, Spanish and Greek yields rose alongside it suggests a broader euro-area repricing, so France is not being singled out — yet. Whether French yields keep widening relative to their neighbours, rather than simply drifting with the bloc, is the open question worth watching.