The CAC 40 index, a key measure of the performance of the largest companies listed on the Paris stock exchange, fell 1.66% to 7,828.70 points on Thursday, marking the first time it has dropped below the 8,000-point level since May of last year. The index had already fallen 0.89% the previous day. The French government is preparing to present its 2027 budget, aiming to address growing concerns over public finances. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu mentioned on X that "reality is catching up with us," referring to the increasing costs of borrowing due to higher interest rates. However, investors remain skeptical about the government’s ability to pass the budget, citing political gridlock and high levels of public debt. Analyst John Plassard of Cité Gestion Private Bank noted that political uncertainty is already affecting expectations for 2027. The yield on French 10-year government bonds, a key indicator of investor confidence, reached 4.95% at 10:20 am, the highest level since July 2002 and surpassing the 5% peak from that period. This marks the highest yield since the 2007-2008 financial crisis. In comparison, Germany’s 10-year bond yield was at 3.62%, creating a spread of 1.33 percentage points—the largest since 2012. The French government plans to reduce the public deficit to 5% of GDP in 2025, down from 5.4% this year, with an additional 43 billion euros in measures. Although tensions in the bond market have slightly eased after the budget proposal was announced, passing it through the national assembly remains a delicate process. Sanofi, a major French pharmaceutical company, is set to pay at least 1 billion dollars to Regeneron to develop new antibodies targeting the same biological pathways as Dupixent, one of Sanofi’s most successful drugs. Dupixent accounted for 45% of Sanofi’s revenue in the second quarter of this year and will lose its patent protection in the early 2030s. In addition to the initial 1 billion dollars, Regeneron could receive up to 7 billion more if the four new antibodies meet development and sales targets. Sanofi is also expanding its collaboration with Regeneron to co-develop four long-acting treatments. Sanofi’s stock rose 0.63% to 73.10 euros on Thursday. On Wall Street, the ISM manufacturing index for September came in at 54.5 points, indicating continued strength in the manufacturing sector, although rising input costs have raised concerns about prolonged high interest rates. Investors are now waiting for the upcoming U.S. employment report, expected on Friday. The U.S. 10-year bond yield touched 5.34%, a 24-year high. Meanwhile, Capgemini’s stock rose 7.38% to 112.10 euros, leading the CAC 40 after Accenture’s strong results reassured investors about the health of the IT consulting sector. Accenture’s stock surged over 20% on Wall Street. Icape, a company specializing in the distribution of printed circuits, reported revenue of 113.3 million euros in the first half of the year, a 12.5% increase, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. The company raised its revenue growth forecast for 2026 to at least 18%, up from 12%, and has a record order book of 135 million dollars. Icape’s stock rose 6.67% to 9.28 euros on Thursday. Meanwhile, illegal access to AI models and computing power is growing as a new form of cybercrime, with pirates selling access to tools from companies like Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI at steep discounts. This trend is reinforcing the importance of cybersecurity in the financial markets.