U.S. STOCKS INCH UP IN NOVEMBER

   By Dan Strumpf and Lisa Beilfuss

A drop in U.S. stocks curbed the market's November gains, leaving major indexes near where they began the month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 78.57 points, or 0.4%, on Monday to 17719.92, weighed down by losses in health-care and retail shares.

The S&P 500 index declined 9.70, or 0.5%, to 2080.41. The Nasdaq Composite declined 18.86, or 0.4%, to 5108.67.

The losses left major indexes barely clinging to positive territory for the month. Investors remain on hold amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade in December.

For November, the Dow rose 0.3%, while the S&P 500 gained just 0.05%. The Nasdaq rose 1.1% for the month, buoyed by gains in the technology sector.

On Monday, shares of Nike and Wal-Mart Stores posted among the heaviest losses in the Dow. After rallying sharply in recent weeks, many retail shares lost ground as the holiday shopping season got under way. Nike lost $2.05, or 1.5%, to $132.28. Wal-Mart fell 1.05, or 1.8%, to 58.84. Those declines took more than 20 points off the blue-chip index.

"The concerns are warranted" regarding consumer spending this holiday season, said Michael Farr, president of Farr Miller & Washington. "The American consumer is resilient," he said, but consumers don't have a lot more money to spend.

Early signs of spending showed brick-and-mortar stores faced difficulties, with a National Retail Federation survey on Sunday showing more people shopped online than in stores during the Thanksgiving weekend.

Target lost 94 cents, or 1.3%, to 72.50 after the retailer reported its website had technical problems Monday morning. A Target spokesman said the retailer was restricting access to the site to manage heavy traffic.

Health-care shares also weighed down the broader market, led by a renewed slide in biotechnology stocks. The S&P 500 Health Care index skidded 1.3%, while the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index lost 1.9%.

Monday's losses conclude what was a ho-hum month for stocks in November, marking a breather for investors following wild swings in the past few months. Stocks tumbled in August and September, only to recover sharply in October. In the past two months, the Dow has surged 8.8%, while the S&P is up 8.4%.

Later this week, investors will turn their focus to the November jobs report, scheduled for release Friday. The report is expected to show that U.S. employers added 205,000 jobs in November, while the unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 5%, according to economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.

Still, many analysts say the data are unlikely to change expectations for a rate increase by the Fed in December.

Anticipation of a rate rise also has driven up the U.S. dollar. The euro fell 0.3% against the dollar Monday to $1.0565. The single currency lost 4% against the greenback in November, its worst month since March. The British pound dipped below $1.50 intraday Monday for the first time since April 23 and closed at $1.5056.

The Fed's expected decision to tighten monetary policy stands in contrast to central-bank policies elsewhere. The European Central Bank, for example, is expected to cut interest rates deeper into negative territory this week as it battles to drive up ultralow inflation.

"Everybody is waiting for the ECB," said Doug Cote, chief market strategist at Voya Investment Management. "There are high expectations for a big day on Thursday."

The Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.5% Monday, bouncing back from early losses. The index finished November with a gain of 2.7%.

In Asia early Tuesday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 1.5%, Australia's S&P ASX 200 was up 1.9%, South Korea's Kospi was up 1.2%, Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 1% and the Shanghai Composite was up 0.1%.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to 2.220%, from 2.222% on Friday, as prices rose.

The Chinese yuan pared gains against the dollar following the ​International Monetary Fund's decision to include the currency in its lending basket for reserve currencies,​but still gained 0.3% for the session, as one dollar bought 6.4246 yuan, or renminbi.​

In commodities, gold rose 0.9% to $1065.80 a troy ounce, but the metal dropped 6.6% for the month. Investors have sold the haven metal on expectations of higher fixed-income yields if the Fed raises interest rates.

Crude-oil futures eased 0.1% to $41.65 a barrel, but tumbled 11% in November as U.S. oil output remained resilient.