Investing.com — November was generally a good month for U.S. stocks, with the index hitting several new all-time highs after falling a month earlier.
The main catalyst was Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election and the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives and the Senate. This backdrop led to a 5.9% rally in the S&P 500 in total return, marking the index's strongest monthly performance in 2024.
- InvestingPro is on sale for Cyber Monday! Don't miss this opportunity to take advantage of powerful tools to succeed in the stock market, with 60% off!
The equal-weighted S&P 500 index did even better, rising 6.4%, the company revealed. Deutsche Bank (ETR:) in a report.
Indicators such as weekly initial jobless claims, which fell to their lowest level since May, and the ISM services index for October, which reached its highest level since July 2022, contributed to the positive outlook for US risk assets. Consumer confidence also rose to its highest level since July 2023, according to the Conference Board measure.
In contrast, President Trump's announcement of new tariffs on products from Mexico and Canada, as well as an additional tariff on China, led to a more negative reaction from some assets.
For example, chip-related stocks came under pressure, with 0.4% down slightly, and 0.4%, which tracks companies with significant activity in China, falling 3.5%. Additionally, the European Automobiles and Parts Index fell 4.1%.
“Indeed, there has been a clear reaction among assets that would be sensitive to the imposition of tariffs,” Deutsche Bank noted.
November was also good for European sovereign bonds, with euro sovereign bonds up 2.3% as investors anticipated faster rate cuts from the European Central Bank. However, French OATs have underperformed due to fiscal concerns in the country.
Among other assets, the strengthened in November, continuing its upward trajectory from October with a gain of 1.7%. The also saw a significant increase, increasing 38.5% over the month, achieving its strongest monthly increase since February.
Conversely, precious metals disappointed investors, posting its worst monthly performance since September 2023 with a decline of 3.7%.
Likewise, silver and platinum recorded their worst monthly performance since September 2023 and August, respectively.
Finally, the suffered a 2.8% decline against the US dollar, representing its largest monthly decline in 18 months and making it the worst performing G10 currency for the month.
