New York [US], December 1 (ANI/Sputnik): Wall Street's broadest stocks gauge, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, posted its biggest-ever monthly gain since 1987, lifted by a rash of positive news over COVID-19 vaccine news, although it settled the day's trade itself lower.

The Dow was up 11.9 percent for November, its biggest month since January 1987, when it gained 13.8 percent.

For Monday itself, the index, one of the three main gauges on the New York Stock Exchange, finished down 0.9 percent at 29,639.

The SP 500, a barometer for the top 500 US stocks on the NYSE, rose 10.8 percent for November, its strongest advance since April's 12.7 percent. For the day, the SP 500 closed down 0.5 percent at 3,622.

The Nasdaq Composite Index, which counts on the performance of US tech stock giants such as Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google, gained 11. 8 percent for November, the most since April's 15.5 percent. For the day, Nasdaq settled down 0.1 percent at 12,199.

US stocks have mostly rallied through November after a flurry of positive announcements on COVID-19 vaccine trials and therapeutics.

US Health Secretary Alex Azar told a CBS interview on Monday that if all went well, Americans could get their first shots of the coronavirus vaccine before Christmas, well before any previously anticipated deadline. Azar said this after Moderna Inc became the second drug company on Monday to apply for emergency authorization with the Food and Drug Administration to push out doses to curb the virus.

Pfizer Inc, which filed for similar FDA approval earlier this month, used United Airlines to airlifted the first mass shipment of its COVID-19 vaccines to Chicago on Friday, CNBC reported. (ANI/Sputnik)