How each sector did in November, from worst to first

November is over, and the market is now preparing for a Fed rate hike and what it hopes will be a Santa Claus rally.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained just 0.3% for the month. The promise of higher interest rates helped push up financials, which were the market’s best-performing sector in November, adding close to 1.9%. Utilities, which behave like bonds because of their steady-streaming dividends, were the worst-performing sector, dropping 2.1%.

Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App

November was a great month for smaller companies, according to data compiled by S&P Capital IQ. The S&P SmallCap 600 (^SP600) rallied 2.7% for the month, while the S&P MidCap 400 (^MID) added close to 1.4%.

Emerging markets, on the other hand, had a rougher go this past month. For example, the ETF tracking the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (trading under the symbol EEM) dropped 2.8% in November.

Sector

ETF

November

Year-to-date

Financials

XLF

+1.89%

+0.61%

Industrials

XLI

+0.93%

-0.54%

Information Technology

XLK

+0.87%

+8.41%

Materials

XLB

+0.83%

-4.40%

Consumer Discretionary

XLY

-0.24%

+13.26%

Energy

XLE

-0.24%

-12.48%

Health Care

XLV

-0.41%

+5.02%

Consumer Staples

XLP

-1.11%

+3.63%

Telecom Services

XTL

-1.26%

+1.62%

Utilities

XLU

-2.14%

-6.87%

Source: S&P Capital IQ

More from Yahoo Finance

It just keeps getting worse for gold

Move over, Black Friday—Super Saturday is now a bigger deal

Investors should look at these stocks now: Strategist

Advertisement