French stocks slide as 10-year yield tops 5% for first time since 2002

European stocks fell sharply on Thursday, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index dropping 0.8%, as a sell-off in French sovereign debt intensified. France's CAC 40 led declines, falling over 1%, after the benchmark French 10-year yield broke above 5% for the first time since 2002. The yield surge follows limited political progress on cutting France's 5.4% GDP deficit, with President Emmanuel Macron pledging to prevent fresh riots. Social unrest spread across Southern Europe, including Greek education protests and Italian cost-of-living demonstrations, though Italian BTP yields avoided severe penalties. Tech stocks slid 3-5% on Meta Platforms' new nonvoting share class announcement and Asian semiconductor losses, while Nestlé and Hermès reported resilient earnings that cushioned broader market declines.