Mr Macron then placed Mr Barnier – leader of the Republican Party and former Brexit negotiator for the EU – as Prime Minister. Loredana Maria Federico, economist at UniCredit, said: “Investors remain concerned about political developments in France ...

Borrowing costs for France have hit a 12-year high relative to Germany, and were more than those of Greece for the first time ever

French 10-year bond yields, which move inversely to prices, rose as high as 3.022 per cent in early trading, taking them marginally above Greece’s yields at 3.013 per cent. Greek yields later dipped to 2.