Chartbook November 2025

Perspectives – December 15, 2025

Following months of strong returns, global equities took a pause in November. During this period, the S&P 500 Index eked out a modest 0.3% gain amid a relatively positive backdrop of robust corporate earnings, rising expectations for interest rate cuts in the near term, and an end to the longest U.S. government shutdown on record. Despite these tailwinds, concerns around elevated valuations and AI-related spending dominated sentiment, putting significant pressure on growth stocks relative to value. These dynamics also carried through to markets outside the U.S. with the value-oriented MSCI EAFE IMI Index adding 0.7%, while the MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Index lost 2.3%, further underscoring the scrutiny around AI expenditures in markets like Taiwan and Korea that had benefited from these trends for most of 2025.