These 20 stocks soared in November with gains of 22% or more after Powell ignites rally

6:42 am ET December 1, 2022 (MarketWatch) Print

By Philip van Doorn

Chip makers including AMD and Nvidia rebound on expectations interest rates will rise more slowly

The rally in U.S. stocks accelerated on the last day of November as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled policy makers might slow the pace of interest-rate increases soon.

The S&P 500 ended the day with a 3.1% gain, having risen 5.4% during November. The benchmark index is now down 14.4% for 2022. Below is a list of 20 stocks in the S&P 500 that were up at least 22% for the month.

The next decisive Fed meeting will take place Dec. 13-14, followed by a policy announcement on Dec. 14. When speaking at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Wednesday, Powell said: "The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting"

This means many investors will now expect a 0.5% increase for the federal funds rate from its current target range of 3.75% to 4%, following four straight increases of 0.75%.

Read:Treasury-bill market's march toward 5% gets interrupted by Fed's Powell

Powell's comments followed an interview with Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard on Tuesday. When asked how quickly the central bank might reach its "terminal rate" (the peak federal funds rate for this cycle), Bullard said "sooner is better."

Best-performing S&P 500 stocks in November

Among the S&P 500, 95% of member companies ended with gains on Wednesday, while 84% ended with gains for November. For all of 2022, precisely two-thirds of the S&P 500 have recorded declines.

Here are the 20 best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 for the month:

Company                          Ticker  November price change  Nov. 30 Price change  2022 price change 
Abiomed Inc.                      ABMD                   49.9%                  0.1%               5.2% 
Etsy Inc.                         ETSY                   40.7%                  8.4%             -39.7% 
Wynn Resorts Ltd.                 WYNN                   30.9%                  4.2%              -1.6% 
SolarEdge Technologies Inc.       SEDG                   29.9%                  2.8%               6.5% 
Advanced Micro Devices Inc.       AMD                    29.3%                  5.8%             -46.1% 
Microchip Technology Inc.         MCHP                   28.3%                  6.7%              -9.0% 
Bath & Body Works Inc.            BBWI                   27.3%                  6.8%             -39.1% 
Meta Platforms Inc. Class A       META                   26.8%                  7.9%             -64.9% 
Freeport-McMoRan Inc.             FCX                    25.6%                  6.1%              -4.6% 
Boeing Company                     BA                    25.5%                  2.0%             -11.1% 
Nvidia Corp.                      NVDA                   25.4%                  8.2%             -42.5% 
Invesco Ltd.                      IVZ                    24.7%                  1.4%             -17.0% 
Best Buy Co. Inc.                 BBY                    24.7%                  1.4%             -16.0% 
KLA Corp.                         KLAC                   24.2%                  5.0%              -8.6% 
Applied Materials Inc.            AMAT                   24.1%                  6.2%             -30.4% 
Air Products and Chemicals Inc.   APD                    23.9%                  2.6%               1.9% 
DuPont de Nemours Inc.             DD                    23.3%                  1.5%             -12.7% 
Las Vegas Sands Corp.             LVS                    23.2%                  4.9%              24.4% 
Ross Stores Inc.                  ROST                   23.0%                  0.8%               3.0% 
ON Semiconductor Corp.             ON                    22.4%                  6.3%              10.7% 
                                                                                        Source: FactSet

Click on the tickers for more about each company. Read Tomi Kilgore's detailed guide to the wealth of information for free on the MarketWatch quote page.

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-Philip van Doorn

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 01, 2022 06:42 ET (11:42 GMT)