A strong Thanksgiving week brought the large cap indexes into the black.
The Nasdaq Composite recorded its first negative month since March, dropping about 1.5% in November to close the month at 23,365.
The downturn was due to widespread concerns among investors about historically high valuations, mostly from technology and AI stocks, amid a tepid and uncertain economy.
High-flying AI stocks, like Nvidia, Palantir, AMD and Arm Holdings were among the hardest hit stocks. Arm, a semiconductor company, dropped 20% in November while AMD fell about 18%. Palantir fell roughly 15% while Nvidia plummeted 14% last month.
Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) was the top performer on the Nasdaq, rising 23.1% last month.
It could have been a lot worse if not for a strong final week of the month. Thanksgiving week saw the Nasdaq Composite rise 4.9%, helping the index avoid massive losses in November.
The strong Thanksgiving week also pushed the other major indexes into the black for November.
S&P 500, Dow Jones and Russell 2000 all tick higher
The S&P 500 ticked slightly higher in November, rising just 0.1% to end the month at 6,849. A 3.7% gain in the final week of the month lifted the S&P 500 into positive territory.
Ablemarle (NYSE:ALB), a chemical company that produces lithium mainly for batteries and energy storage, was the top performer, returning 32.9% for the month. Ablemarle stock is up about 51% YTD.
Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly was the next best performer on the S&P 500, returning 32.2% for the month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average also got a boost last week, rising 3.2% to finish the month up 0.3% to 47,716. It was a big month for pharma stocks as Merck paced the Dow with a 21% return in November while Amgen rose 18%.
Finally, the Russell 2000 small cap index gained 0.8% in November, closing the month at 2,500 even. The small cap index rose 5.5% last week, which lifted it into positive territory for the month.
Heading into the final month of the year, the Nasdaq Composite is up 20.3% year-to-date, while the Dow 30 has gained 11.4%. The S&P 500 has risen 15.9%. while the Russell 2000 has returned 11.1% this year so far.
