S&P 500 Secures Second Consecutive Month Of Gains

Better than expected inflationary data and corporate earnings reports helped boost S&P 500 to back-to-back rallies for first time since mid-2021.

November gave investors reason to be thankful, including a bucket of good-enough economic news that contributed to a second consecutive month of gains.

Better-than-expected inflationary data and signals from the Federal Reserve (the Fed) that its interest rate hikes may soon slow – even as they continue – likely played a role. A typical end-of-year seasonal rally and the conclusion of midterm elections may have also done their parts to push us forward.

“Certainty is always more attractive to investors than uncertainty, so regardless of who wins, the end of midterms is usually greeted with a mild increase in stock values,” Raymond James Chief Investment Officer Larry Adam said. “Meanwhile, corporate earnings were better than feared; jobs, retail sales and durable goods numbers were healthy; and it’s clear that a 2022 recession, once feared by some investors, won’t arrive.”

The result was that the S&P 500 rallied for the second consecutive month for the first time since July and August of last year. Treasury yields also saw a strong rally, with 10-year notes falling from around 4.2% to 3.7%. This pushed the gap between the 2-year and 10-year note to its most inverted level – when short-term yields exceed long-term – since 1981.

Still, the housing market is reflecting the effects of higher financing costs with lower demand, which will likely lead to downstream discomfort, and several economic indicators suggest a coming 2023 recession, even if mild.

Before we get into exploring the other topics that contributed to November’s result, let’s take a look at where we stand for the year.

 

12/31/21 Close

11/30/22 Close*

Change
Year to Date

Gain/Loss
Year to Date

DJIA

36,338.30

34,589.77

-1,748.53 -4.81%

NASDAQ

15,644.97

11,468.00

-4,176.97 -26.70%

S&P 500

4,766.18

4,080.11

-686.07 -14.39%

MSCI EAFE

2,336.07

1,945.94

-390.13 -16.70%

Russell 2000

2,245.31

1,886.58

-358.73 -15.98%

Bloomberg U.S.
Aggregate Bond Index

2,355.14

2,045.59

-309.55 -13.14%

*Performance reflects index values as of market close on Nov. 30, 2022. MSCI EAFE and Bloomberg Aggregate Bond reflect Nov. 29, 2022, end-of-day values.

Taut U.S.-China relations ease a touch

A three-hour meeting between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 2022 G-20 Summit symbolized a return to the table and a slight easing of tensions despite significant disagreements, particularly surrounding the status of Taiwan. Biden described the goal of U.S.-China relations to be one of competition without conflict.