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Equities Finish Higher to End A Strong November

Equities Finish Higher to End A Strong November

Equities Finish Higher to End A Strong November

Equity markets rose last week to end a strong November trading month. Global equities (represented by the MSCI All Country World Index) were up 1.00% while domestic stocks (represented by the S&P 500 Index) were up 1.08%.

Global Equities and Bonds

Through 11 months of the year, most asset classes have performed well. Global equities (represented by the MSCI All Country World Index) and bonds (represented by the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index) are up 20.34% and 2.93% respectively.

Equities Finish Higher to End A Strong November

S&P 500

While 2024 has brought on its fair share of investor worries such as the path for rates, signs of cooling in the labor market, persistent inflation above the Fed’s long-term target, and a major election, the S&P 500 has had a relatively smooth path higher reaching new all-time highs.

Equities Finish Higher to End A Strong November

Source: FactSet, Edward Jones, S&P 500 Price Index

Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index, was released last week for October. Both the headline and core (excluding food and energy prices) PCE Indexes ticked up slightly with annual rates of 2.3% and 2.8% respectively, following September readings of 2.1% and 2.7%.

Market Reaction to Potential Tariffs

Markets reacted positively to President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Scott Bessent for Treasury Secretary on Monday. However, later news on Monday of Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on imported goods from China, Canada, and Mexico caused concern about potential retaliation from these countries. Tuesday’s trading day saw automakers in the likes of Ford and General Motors fall sharply as they rely on trade with other North American countries for auto parts and final assembly.

Looking Forward

This week a monthly labor market update is scheduled to be reported on Friday. Investors will focus on whether a slowdown in job growth extended into November. The US economy generated 12,000 new jobs in October, the smallest increase since December 2020. August and September’s job gains were also revised lower from their initial report.

I’d like to leave you with the final line we’ve used since we started these commentaries back at the very height of market volatility in March 2020. Always remember that we create financial/investment plans not for the easy times, but to prepare for the tough ones.

Mike Horwath

Mike heads the internal Investment Committee that is responsible for the investment direction of the firm. He works closely with Diversified’s financial planners to support the investment side of the lifelong financial planning process. Lastly, it’s Mike’s responsibility to oversee the ever-changing global investment landscape and work with the planners to evaluate the impact on each of our client’s strategies.

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