As we enter the last trading week of November, the global stock market is on pace for its best month in more than three years.
Markets in North America, Asia, Latin America, and Europe have enjoyed big rallies in November.
Consequently, the MSCI All-Country World Index, which is a benchmark of international equity performance, is on track for its best month since 2020.
According to data from FactSet, the MSCI World index, which includes shares of nearly 3,000 companies, is up 7.6% so far in November.
That’s the biggest gain since April 2020, when the index rose 10.2% as global markets recovered from the initial shock of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The current rally in equities shows signs of broadening out to include previously neglected areas of the market such as U.S. small caps and Chinese stocks.
The Shanghai Composite Index, one of China’s stock-market benchmarks, is up 0.7% in November after falling for most of the year.
Japan’s Nikkei index, the main equity benchmark in that country, has gained 8.9% so far in November.
European stocks are also having their best month since November 2022, with the STOXX Europe 600 index up more than 6%.
In the U.S., the benchmark S&P 500 index has gained nearly 10% in November, while the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada is up more than 6% for the month.
Stocks have been rallying on expectations that central banks are now done raising interest rates and that rate cuts will be forthcoming in 2024.
Falling Treasury yields in the U.S. have also sparked the global rally in November, say analysts.
