CNBC Daily Open: November was a month to remember for stocks

This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.

Stocks’ November reign 
Major U.S. indexes climbed on Friday, a shortened day of trading, ending the week and the month higher. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average notched new highs. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index advanced 0.58% to end November 0.96% higher. Annual inflation in the euro zone rose an expected 2.3% in November, up from 2% in October. 

India’s economic growth disappoints 
India’s economy expanded by 5.4% in its second fiscal quarter ending September, according to the country’s statistics agency. It’s a steep drop from the previous quarter’s 6.7% growth. Moreover, the GDP figure is far less than the 6.5% predicted by a Reuters poll and the 7% expected by the Reserve Bank of India.  

Second-best month for Bitcoin 
Bitcoin celebrated its second-best month of the year so far, jumping 38% for November. After Donald Trump won the U.S. elections, investors poured into bitcoin ETFs — which registered their largest of inflows in a day during that period — offsetting some profit-taking. The launch of options of bitcoin ETFs might boost the coin’s popularity further. 

Musk sues OpenAI 
Attorneys representing Elon Musk filed for a preliminary injunction against OpenAI on Friday. The injunction would block OpenAI from converting into a fully for-profit business and stop OpenAI from allegedly requiring its investors to refrain from funding competitors, including xAI — Musk’s AI startup — and others. 

[PRO] Eyes on November’s jobs report 
This week’s major piece of data is November’s jobs report, out Friday. It’ll be the U.S. Federal Reserve’s last major look at the labor market before its December meeting. If the numbers come in high — October’s 12,000 jobs increase was seen as an aberration because of the effects of hurricanes — they could sway the Fed into cutting rates. 

The S&P 500 climbed 5.73%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 7.54% in November, marking their best monthly performance this year. The Nasdaq Composite closed 6.21% higher for its most positive month since May. 

Recently, a host of factors have pumped up investors’ sentiment for stocks. 

The presidential elections concluded with Donald Trump definitively securing the top seat in the White House. That erased any uncertainty, which investors hate. Also, Trump favors the stock market, tax cuts and deregulation, which investors love. 

The U.S. economy grew at a 2.8% annualized rate for the third quarter. Even though gross domestic product is forecast to be 1.31% in the fourth quarter, according to the St. Louis Fed nowcast, that still denotes an expansion — a stark contrast against nagging fears that a recession would strike the economy. 

Slowing growth even has a silver lining. It gives the U.S. Federal Reserve more incentive to cut rates a second time this year at its December meeting, which would stimulate economic activity. 

Also, November’s seasonal strength for stocks sent a course of good feelings into investors. 

“As we head into December, it’s really hard to fade this bull market here, with all the things going right,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird Private Wealth Management.  

Indeed, U.S. stocks are stocks “in the throes of a powerful yearend surge,” according to Rich Ross, Evercore ISI’s chartered market technician. That’s because short sellers, who had bet against the market, are forced to buy stocks to cover their positions as the year ends.  

The flurry of purchases, in turn, could push the S&P 500 up to 6,300, Ross added. That implies a 5% upside for December and a 32.1% surge for the whole of 2024 — beating the 24.2% jump the S&P scored in 2023. 

With luck, it’ll be 2024, not just November, that investors will with fondness recall. 

— CNBC’s Alex Harring and Scott Schnipper contributed to this report.