November Market Summary: Defensive November

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Following October’s broad rally, November saw a more selective market. Technology shares gave back part of their gains amid concerns over stretched valuations. The US Nasdaq Index lost 1.5% in November despite positive earnings results, including from sector leader Nvidia. Investors seemed to focus on the tech-heavy index’s 43x price-to-earnings ratio, well above its 20-year average of 38.3x. The overall global growth’s sector slowdown narrowed the performance gap with global value and quality equities, which had lagged so far this year. Their defensive appeal made them outperform in November, taking their YTD gains to 19.6% and 15.8% respectively, closer to the global growth equities’ 21.5% performance.

Apart from relatively solid earnings and economic growth, equities were also buoyed by some recent dovish comments from Federal Reserve officials, which increased hopes of a US rate cut in December. This supported bonds, which posted small gains across Europe and the US, but not in Japan, where growth and inflation expectations have increased speculation of an imminent rate hike. The US dollar weakened, helping emerging market bonds post another strong month (more below).

*All the above reference indices are expressed in local currency terms.

Infrastructure investments are known for their defensive qualities, due to their essential services, high barriers to entry, contracted cash flows, and regulated returns often providing resilience during periods of market volatility – when their focus on essential assets and stable cash flows becomes especially attractive. As seen in the chart below, the sector outperformed global equities during volatile years, including 2025 YTD, 2022 (Russia-Ukraine war), 2016 (Brexit, geopolitical tensions), and 2011 (European Sovereign debt crisis).