French Borrowing Costs Drop at Last Bond Sale Before Vote

France raised 7.43 billion euros ($9.76 billion) through a debt sale today, close to the maximum it sought. Borrowing costs fell.

France had targeted 7.5 billion euros in securities. It sold 3.32 billion of benchmark 10-year bonds at an average yield of 2.96 percent compared with 2.98 percent in the last auction on April 5. Spain today sold 2.52 billion euros of bonds, compared with a maximum target of 2.5 billion euros at an auction in Madrid today. Yields jumped.

The French sale is last before the nation’s presidential election on May 6. President Nicolas Sarkozy is trailing in the polls behind Socialist challenger Francois Hollande.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Vidya Root at vroot@bloomberg.net