Shopkeepers and residents in Paris have begun arming themselves with tear gas ahead of a second round of large-scale protests in France this weekend. As political unrest persists and swings in the French government bond market widen, investors are watching closely for any sign of intervention by the European Central Bank.
Gun shops selling self-defense weapons said demand for tear gas has surged among customers who no longer trust the police to protect them, as the protests in France have intensified, Britain's The Times reported on the 22nd. Yves Goletty, who runs a gun shop in central Paris, told the newspaper that demand had risen to eight to 10 times its previous level. Customers are seeking tear gas in gel form or in pistol-style sprayers, according to the report. In France, sprayers that discharge a tear agent to impair an opponent's breathing and vision can be purchased without a permit.
The buying follows the announcement of another round of nationwide protests against deteriorating conditions in education and rising living costs. The National Union of Students of France (UNEF), a leading student federation, the Yellow Vests movement that led anti-government protests in 2018, and major labor unions are all urging people to join the demonstrations on the 24th.
Merchants and residents who experienced rioting and looting during the first round of protests appear to be defending themselves rather than relying on the authorities. More than 550,000 people took part in the protests that began on the 17th of this month and continued through the weekend, which escalated into violent unrest, with more than 2,700 people detained. Authorities estimated that more than 3,000 businesses nationwide were damaged or looted.
Some protesters who took part in the looting tried to sell stolen luxury goods online amid the chaos, the BBC reported. Police defenses were so weakened that more than 1,000 officers were injured as demonstrators threw objects including Molotov cocktails. Goletty said many people fear that looters could target their homes. France's reputation as a cultural powerhouse is also being shaken. Art Basel Paris, the city's largest art fair, closed early on the 23rd, and the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay and the Picasso Museum — among the country's best-known cultural landmarks — will shut their doors on the 24th.
The French government has responded with a hard line, invoking a limited ban on demonstrations. President Emmanuel Macron said that only rallies organized by official labor unions would be permitted on the 24th, when large protests are planned. Authorities plan to deploy 20% more police officers at protest sites on the 24th than in the previous week. Marylise Leon, secretary-general of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT), criticized the move, saying the president's measures were unlikely to quell the anger.
As the protests drag on, French government bond yields have risen above U.S. Treasury yields for the first time in 13 years. The yield on France's 10-year bond stood at 5.06% on the day, exceeding the U.S. 10-year yield of about 4.95%, according to Reuters and Bloomberg.
The French 10-year yield climbed as high as 5.1415% intraday, the highest level since July 2002. The French two-year yield also jumped 11 basis points from the previous day to 3.86%, an unusually sharp move for a developed-market sovereign bond. The strain in the French bond market is spreading to other euro-zone countries. As Belgium's 10-year yield fell, its spread over German bunds widened to 110 basis points, the widest since 2012.