Investing.com — November was an overall strong month for US equities, with the S&P 500 hitting several subsequent all-time highs following its pullback from a month earlier.
The key catalyst was Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election and Republicans winning control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. This backdrop led to a 5.9% recovery in the S&P 500 in total return terms, marking the index's strongest monthly performance of 2024.
The equal-weighted S&P 500 performed even better, registering a 6.4% increase, Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) revealed in a report.
Contributing to the positive outlook for US risk assets were indicators such as the weekly initial jobless claims, which dropped to their lowest since May, and the ISM services index for October, which hit its highest point since July 2022. Consumer confidence also surged to its highest level since July 2023, according to the Conference Board's measure.
On the other hand, the announcement of new tariffs by President Trump on goods from Mexico, Canada, and an additional tariff on China, led to a more negative reaction among certain assets.
For example, chip-related stocks faced pressure, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index seeing a slight decline of 0.4%, and the NASDAQ Golden Dragon China, which tracks companies with significant business in China, falling by 3.5%. Furthermore, the STOXX 600 Automobiles and Parts Index in Europe dropped by 4.1%.
“Indeed, there was a clear reaction among assets that would be sensitive to the imposition of tariffs,” Deutsche Bank noted.
November was also a strong month for European sovereign bonds, with Euro sovereigns up 2.3% as investors anticipated faster rate cuts from the European Central Bank. However, French OATs underperformed due to budget concerns in the country.
Among other assets, the US Dollar strengthened in November, continuing its upward trajectory from October with a 1.7% gain. Bitcoin also experienced a significant surge, up 38.5% for the month, achieving its strongest monthly gain since February.
Conversely, precious metals disappointed investors, with gold posting its worst monthly performance since September 2023 with a 3.7% drop.
Similarly, silver and platinum recorded their worst monthly performance since September 2023 and August, respectively.
Lastly, the euro suffered a 2.8% decline against the US dollar, marking its largest monthly drop in 18 months and making it the worst-performing G10 currency for the month.
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