CBA (ASX:CBA) and the ASX banks just had an amazing month

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and the rest of the big four banks have just had a stellar month of November. Here are the numbers

A group of ASX investors celebrating increasing share price with champagne.

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It's no secret by now that the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX XO) has just finished off one of its best months in history. The ASX 200 gained more than 11% over the month, far more than what it averages in returns every year.

Since the banking sector makes up a massive proportion of the overall ASX 200 (the big four's weightings alone account for ~20% of the ASX 200), one might assume it's been a good month for ASX banks too. And that assumption would be correct. So let's have a look at how the big four ASX banks performed over November, and which one came out on top.

Making bank in November

Let's start with the 'big dog' – Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA). CBA shares closed at $69.02 on Friday 30 October, and finished up yesterday at a price of $79.57. That's a gain of 15.29% – not bad at all for a month's work. Incidentally, CBA's steller November has seen it return to the top of the ASX 200 totem pole, displacing CSL Limited (ASX: CSL), which had occupied the throne for most of 2020.

Turning to National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), and we can see that NAB shares started the month priced at $18.60. Since the NAB share price closed at $23.12 yesterday, NAB has banked (excuse the pun) a gain of 24.3% over the month.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) has arguably been the bank that has seen the worst circumstances in 2020 so far. Remember, it was forced to pay an Australian corporate record of a fine a few months ago, which cost it $1.3 billion. So, Westpac started the month at $17.91 a share, and closed up yesterday at $20.25. That's a gain of 13.07%.

Last, and in this case least (in terms of market capitalisation), we have Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ). ANZ closed October out at a price of $18.81 a share. It closed out November yesterday at a price of $22.76 a share. That means ANZ shareholders have enjoyed an even 21% appreciation over the month.

For what it's worth, the ASX's 'fifth bank' Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) rose from $126.75 to $140.20 over November, a gain of 10.61%.

Foolish takeaway

Looking at these numbers, we can see that NAB was the best ASX banking share to own in November, treating its investors to a very welcome 24.3% gain. This was almost matched by ANZ's 21%, with CBA and Westpac bringing up the rear with gains of 15.2% and 13.1% respectively. 

Sebastian Bowen owns shares of National Australia Bank Limited. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Macquarie Group Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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