Charting the Markets: One Week On, French Equities Defy Terror

Europe's worst terror attack in more than a decade hasn't deterred equity investors this week, with France's CAC 40 Index rising as much as 2.5 percent. Fewer than 10 stocks have fallen, among them Accor, Europe's biggest hotel operator, which dropped 4.7 percent on Monday on concern about tourist flows. Since then it's clawed back more than half of those losses. The CAC 40 Index remains one of Western Europe's best performing equity indexes this year. Only Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Austria have fared better.

Global stocks are little changed yet the MSCI All Country World Index is on track for its best week in six. Investors have a new-found belief the path of U.S. interest rate increases will be gradual even if the Federal Reserve embarks on tighter monetary policy next month for the first time in nine years. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has risen 1.6 percent this week, while the MSCI Emerging Markets Index has jumped 2.4 percent. Goldman Sachs says emerging markets are about to turn the corner after three years of disappointment.