Markets fall after strong November gains

Markets fell on Monday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.5 percent, the STOXX Europe 600 fell 1.0 percent and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.5 percent.

Despite the fall on Monday, the S&P 500 rose 10.8 percent in November, its biggest monthly gain since April.

“The length and strength of the current rally suggests to us that the market could be vulnerable to some pullback at these levels,” wrote John Stoltzfus, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer Asset Management.

Also, the COVID-19 pandemic remains a concern after the US recorded 10,000 coronavirus deaths and over 1.1 million new cases last week. Hospitalised COVID-19 patients reached a record high of nearly 93,000 on Sunday, up 11 percent from the previous week.

The STOXX Europe 600 surged nearly 14 percent in November, its biggest monthly gain on record.

However, with the deadline for a deal between the UK and the European Union just five weeks away, Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA Europe, said that “time is fast running out and you have to wonder how long it can go on before we see a wobble in the markets”.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics announced Monday that the official manufacturing PMI for November was at 52.1, indicating a ninth consecutive month of expansion.