Developed market (DM) equities rallied 4% in the last few days of November to claw their way back into positive territory for the month (MSCI World Index +0.3% MoM), extending a run of positive monthly returns to eight, and leaving global equities up 20.6% YTD with just one month left in 2025. The mega-cap tech and AI cohort, which had led global equity markets recently, struggled in November, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the Bloomberg Magnificent 7 indices down 1.6% and 1.1% MoM, respectively. Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, announced better-than-expected results for their most recent financial quarter, with revenue soaring 62% YoY. The company also upgraded guidance for the coming financial quarter, anticipating that it will sell c. US$65bn worth of computer chips in the three-month period. While the share rallied briefly after the results were announced, it ended November down 13% MoM. Alphabet (+14% MoM) bucked the mega-cap tech wobble, with the share price rallying sharply as industry data suggested its latest AI release (Gemini 3) was more capable than competitor offerings, including ChatGPT. Healthcare stocks were the best-performing sector in November (S&P 500 Healthcare Index +9.3% MoM), as investors rotated into the more conservative parts of the market, which had been lagging YTD through October.
Emerging market (EM) stocks lagged their DM peers in November as they were unable to claw their way back into positive territory for the month (MSCI EM Index -2.4% MoM). Despite the underperformance in November, EM equities remain comfortably ahead of DM peers YTD (MSCI EM Index +30.4%). Chinese equities were the biggest drag on the EM Index during November as they digested some of the strong YTD gains. Tech conglomerate Alibaba (-8% MoM) saw its share price fall as its latest earnings release showed margins in its key e-commerce division plunging as a result of subsidies aimed at scaling its “quick commerce” segment.
The US government ended its longest-ever shutdown after 43 days on 13 November, approving spending that will see it through to the end of January 2026, buying itself time to work out a longer-term funding plan. The government shutdown has kept government economists and statisticians on unpaid leave since the beginning of October, leaving investors without any meaningful economic data for the past couple of months. The absence of recent inflation and employment data gave investors limited information with which to change their assumptions about what the US Federal Reserve (Fed) might do at upcoming meetings. As a result, borrowing rates remained essentially unchanged during November. The US dollar weakened marginally against most major currency pairs (US Dollar Index -0.3% MoM).
