WORLD STOCKS LED BY EUROPE SCORE RECORD-BREAKING MONTH

World shares were set to seal a record-busting month on Monday as the prospect of a vaccine-driven global economic recovery next year and yet more free money from central banks eclipsed concerns about the pandemic in the near-term, Wayne Cole reported for Reuters.

The rush to risk has also benefited oil and industrial commodities while undermining the safe-haven dollar and gold. “November looks set to be an awesome month for equity investors with Europe leading the charge at a country/regional level,” said NAB analyst Rodrigo Catril.

Many European bourses are boasting their best month ever with France up 21% and Italy almost 26%. The MSCI measure of world stocks is up 13% for November so far, while the S&P 500 has climbed 11% to all-time peaks. Early Monday, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.1%, to be up more than 11% for the month in its best performance since late 2011. Japan’s Nikkei firmed 0.7%, bringing its gains for the month to 16.7% for the largest rise since 1990. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 edged up another 0.1% in early trade, and NASDAQ futures 0.4%.

“Markets are overbought and at risk of a short term pause,” said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital. “However, we are now in a seasonally strong time of year and investors are yet to fully discount the potential for a very strong recovery next year in growth and profits as stimulus combines with vaccines.” Cyclical recovery shares including resources, industrials and financials were likely to be relative outperformers, he added.