French S&P Downgrade Was Upgrade in Investor Repudiation
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By almost any measure France is a more creditworthy borrower eight months after Standard & Poor’s said it no longer merits a AAA rating.
The nation’s 1.07 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion) of debt maturing in a year or more rallied 7.4 percent since it was downgraded to AA+ on Jan. 13, more than double the gains for the rest of the global government bond market, and beating AAA rated Germany, the U.K. and Australia, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes. Instead of rising, French 10-year yields have fallen at a faster pace than those of bunds or Treasuries, the historic havens in times of turmoil.