Wall St. down for the day

S&P, Dow register records for month

Stocks pulled back slightly from their record levels Monday as Wall Street put a quiet coda on one of its most rocking months in decades.

The S&P 500 fell 0.5%, but the benchmark index still clocked a surge of 10.8% for the month, its biggest monthly gain since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has far less impact on 401(k) accounts than the S&P 500 does, had its best month since 1987.

The market’s slide followed reports showing how the worsening pandemic is dragging down the economy in the near term. But most investors are looking beyond that.

The market’s strong November gains reflect Wall Street latching on to hopes that the economy will get closer to normal next year and strengthen in the long term. That scenario hinges largely on promising coronavirus vaccines being rolled out in coming weeks and, eventually, leading to fewer new virus cases, which have been increasing.

“Today’s pullback in equities is a sidestep in a market that seems poised to trend higher,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “We still think the market trends higher into the new year.”

The S&P 500 lost 16.72 points to 3,621.63. The Dow fell 271.73 points, or 0.9%, to 29,638.64. The Nasdaq composite slipped 7.11 points, or 0.1%, to 12,198.74. The S&P 500 and Dow are close to their record levels, and the Dow crested the 30,000 level last week for the first time.

The turbocharger for the market’s move higher has been a huge dose of hope as pharmaceutical companies come closer to delivering vaccines to a world beaten down by the pandemic.