(Corrects headline and story to clarify that a portfolio manager at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management sold French government bonds held in a fund he manages, rather than the asset manager exiting French government bonds entirely.)

A portfolio manager at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management sold French government bonds in a fund he manages due to worries about the country's fiscal conditions, Bloomberg News reported Friday.

The move came after a rise in the risk premium for euro-area government bonds on Thursday due to contagion fears from France's debt challenges that prompted its government to push for a smaller budget deficit, the report said.

The portfolio manager moved to safer havens including German and short-term Japanese government bonds, the news outlet said.

The majority of Sumitomo Mitsui DS AM's investment strategies continue to hold French government bonds, the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (TYO:8316) arm told MT Newswires.

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