Broadly speaking, November was a good month for stocks in the U.S. and many global markets. Last month, 19 of 25 developed markets and 13 of 19 emerging markets found within the S&P Global Broad Market Index (BMI) trader higher, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
With the United States Brent Oil Fund (NYSEArca: BNO) and the United States Oil Fund (NYSEArca: USO) down 14% and 11.6%, respectively, over the past month, it is not surprising that some of the worst ex-U.S. markets last month were major oil-producing countries.
Among developed markets, Norway was by the far worst performer last month with stocks in the Nordic nation sliding almost 9.1%, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. The Global X MSCI Norway 30 ETF (NYSEArca: NORW) stood out in November and for all the wrong reasons.
NORW slid 7.4% while the iShares MSCI Sweden ETF (NYSEArca: EWD) gained 3.6% and the Global X FTSE Nordic Region ETF (NYSEArca: GXF) gained 1.1%. [Going Nordic With ETFs]
NORW’s woes and those of Norwegian stocks in general boil down to Norway’s status as one of the world’s largest non-OPEC, developed market oil producers. Only two non-OPEC producers – Russia and Mexico – depend on oil for a higher percentage of government revenue than Norway does, according to Quartz.
Oil production drives about 30% of government receipts in Norway, barely less than in OPEC member Ecuador. That percentage is also far greater than oil’s contributions to government revenue in Canada and the U.S., also two of the largest developed market oil producers. [Oil Plagues Frontier Markets ETFs]