FRANCE: New PM Could Be Announced This Evening

Dec-12 10:43

President Emmanuel Macron could announce the identity of a new prime minister as soon as the evening of 12 December. The formulation of the next gov't looks increasingly to be a broad coalition involving the parties of Macron's centrist Ensemble alliance, the centre-left Socialist Party (PS), environmentalist Ecologists, and potentially the left-wing French Communist Party (PCF) and conservative Les Republicains (LR). Such an administration would have a much more left-leaning outlook than the now-collapsed minority gov't of PM Michel Barnier. 

  • The composition of the alliance and identity of the PM appears to remain in flux. Ecologist leader Marine Tondelier said on Thursday morning "The fact that [Macron] persists in wanting to put a prime minister from his camp [into power] leads France into a political, social, economic, environmental deadlock." Tondelier said centrist MoDem leader Francois Bayrou and former PM Bernard Cazeneuve from the PS would not be acceptable candidates for her party.
  • An 11 Dec opinion poll from Elabe for BFMTV showed 41% of respondents in favour of an apolitical/technocrat PM, compared to 23% supporting a candidate of the NFP, 17% the far-right Rassemblement National, 12% the conservative LR, and just 6% Macron's Ensemble alliance.
  • The timing of any announcement could come quite late in the day, with Macron flying in and out of Warsaw today for bilaterals with Polish PM Donald Tusk and President Andrzej Duda.
  • The new PM will face a tough task in passing a budget, with internal divisions between members of the unwieldy coalition likely to hinder efforts to pass the legislation. 

Historical bullets

BONDS: EGBs Outperform On Soft ZEW, Gilts Wider

Nov-12 10:46

Softer-than-expected German ZEW data drives EGB outperformance vs. peers.

  • Political headwinds from the U.S. weighed on the data, with the domestic political situation also impacting sentiment covering the immediate term (although optimism over the longer run in recent days was noted).
  • Bund futures +8 at 132.59, recovering from lows of 132.24.
  • German yields 1.5-3.0bp lower, flatter. Dip in cover at Schatz auction counters some of the rally in the front end.
  • EGBs a little wider vs. Bunds after yesterday’s general, modest narrowing. Weakness in equities helps explain peripheral underperformance
  • ECB’s Rehn reaffirmed the easing direction evident in policy settings, with the speed contingent on future data developments.
  • Little net movement in ECB pricing on the day, 125bp of cuts priced across the next 5 meetings, with risks of 50bp moves priced through March.
  • Gilts lag German peers, with cues from Tsys eyed.
  • Futures -21 at 94.10 vs. lows of 93.96. Bearish theme intact.
  • Yields little changed to +3.5bp, curve bear flattens.
  • 10s ~3bp wider to Bunds, spread last 213bp, a handful of bp off last week’s cycle wides.
  • BoE chief economist Pill provided little of note, with initial comments reaffirming his hawkish leanings, before some more centrist comments (playing down feedthrough from the Budget, for instance) became apparent.
  • Oct-43 gilt supply passed smoothly.
  • BoE pricing shows 3bp of cuts for Dec, 28bp through March, 47bp through June and 64bp through Dec ’25. 1-3.5bp less dovish on the day.
  • Little of note on the European & UK calendars this afternoon, leaving focus on cross-market moves and the U.S. return from holiday.

BELGIUM T-BILL AUCTION RESULTS: 4/12-Month TCs

Nov-12 10:41
MaturityMar 13, 2025Nov 13, 2025
AmountE1.515blnE1.865bln
TargetE3.2-3.6blnShared
PreviousE1.405blnE2.202bln
Avg yield2.916%2.510%
Previous2.994%2.827%
Bid-to-cover2.5x1.29x
Previous2.51x1.47x
Previous dateNov 5, 2024Sep 10, 2024

GERMAN AUCTION RESULTS: 2.00% Dec-26 Schatz

Nov-12 10:37
 2.00% Dec-26 SchatzPrevious
ISINDE000BU22072 
Total soldE5blnE5bln
AllottedE4.019blnE4.162bln
Avg yield2.11%2.16%
Bid-to-offer1.76x2.17x
Bid-to-cover2.19x2.61x
Average Price99.76899.661
Low acc. Price99.76599.660
Pre-auction mid99.764 
Previous date 22-Oct-24