S&P 500 up almost 9% in November, but is Big Tech a risk?

investmentnews.com:

The US stock market just posted its best month in almost a year and a half, and one of its best Novembers in decades, defying skeptics and fueling hopes for more gains to come.

The S&P 500 Index advanced 8.9% this month, for its second-best November since 1980, behind only the pandemic-fueled rebound in 2020, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The gauge is up around 19% in 2023 and snapped a three-month losing streak as investors looked past the possibility of a recession, geopolitical turmoil and soaring borrowing costs.

“Almost everyone was offsides coming into November,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group. “So there’s still a big opportunity for traders to chase gains in December, too.”

The surge in stocks was part of a pan-markets rally triggered by a plunge in bond yields that accelerated as signs mounted that policymakers are managing to tame inflation without breaking the economy. The Nasdaq 100 Index gained about 11% in November — its strongest month since last year — as Big Tech dominated again. The index went the entire month without a single decline of 1% or more, and the last time that happened was in August 2021.

The bet now is that the Federal Reserve is done hiking rates and will start cutting by mid-2024. Traders will likely learn more on Friday when Fed Chair Jerome Powell has two appearances scheduled. It’s a pivotal moment for Wall Street as the end of the central bank’s tightening cycles has historically delivered double-digit returns for stocks.

November traditionally kicks off the best six months of the year for the S&P 500, typically because stock buying by companies and pension plans picks up on Nov. 1. The tax-loss harvesting deadline for mutual funds usually is Oct. 31, not