France will come to market...>

FRANCE AUCTION PREVIEW: France will come to market on Thursday for a sizeable

tap of E9.5-11.5bn. On offer are the 0.75% May-28 OAT, 0.0% Nov-29 OAT, 0.75%

May-52 OAT and the 4.00% Apr-60 OAT.

- BACKGROUND: Previous auction results (date, volume, average yield,

bid-to-cover): 0.75% May-28 OAT (5 Dec 2019, E2.07bn, -0.12%, 2.4x), 0.0% Nov-29

OAT (2 Apr 2020, E2.6bn, 0.04%, 2.67x), 0.75% May-52 OAT (5 Mar 2020, E1.34bn,

0.45%, 2.26x), 4.00% Apr-60 OAT (5 Dec 2019, E0.89bn, 0.88%, 1.5x).

- RV/HISTORY: French OATs have sold off sharply since the beginning of the week

and the curve has bear steepened. Tentative efforts to re-open the economy and

some disappointment that the ECB did not expand the PEPP capacity last week have

underpinned the push higher in yields. An announcement of an increase in

issuance from the US treasury then triggered a sharp sell-off on Wednesday

afternoon. French data releases ahead of the Thursday auction will be for March

and so relatively inconsequential at this point.

- Results are due out around 0950BST