Key insights
- US stocks finished May higher, boosted by a stabilizing Middle East, confirmed Fed chair, and strong corporate earnings with over 85% of S&P 500 companies beating EPS expectations. Despite a rise in inflation to 3.8% and a dip in consumer confidence, existing home sales saw a slight increase. The market anticipates three mega IPOs (SpaceX, Anthropic, OpenAI) later this year. Falling oil prices and lower gas prices could provide some relief to inflationary pressures.
U.S. stocks ended May 2026 higher, reenergized by a stabilizing Middle East, a confirmed Fed chair, and stronger corporate earnings, with over 85% of S&P 500 companies reporting earnings-per-share growth above expectations. The inflation rate rose to 3.8% year over year. The S&P 500 gained 6.29% and is now up over 10% year to date. Market volatility was driven by continued global geopolitical shocks and the inflationary impact of higher energy prices.
The Consumer Confidence Index fell to 93.1 in May, from a revised 93.8 in April, while existing home sales increased 0.2% to 4.02 million, highlighting the effect of the national average mortgage rate of over 6.5% on the traditionally busy spring housing market.
SpaceX completed filings to go public on the Nasdaq as early as June 12 with the ticker symbol SPCX. It is targeting an initial public offering to raise $75 billion at a valuation of about $1.75 trillion. It would be the largest IPO in history. Anthropic completed a funding round that valued the AI company at $965 billion and has signaled its plans to go public later this year. On top of that, as of OpenAI’s most recent funding round, it is valued at over $850 billion, setting the market up to witness three mega IPOs later this year.
Oil prices have fallen at the fastest monthly rate since the pandemic-induced crash in March of 2020, to slightly below $88 per barrel, and gas prices now average $4.39 per gallon nationally and $4.03 in North Carolina, according to AAA. Increased energy costs continue to force the Federal Reserve to pause its rate-cutting cycle amid inflationary pressures driven by higher energy prices.
CNN’s Fear and Greed Index closed May at 60, indicating a steadying of market positivity, down slightly from 67 at the same point last month. The stability reflects investor optimism about reduced geopolitical uncertainty and reservations over the newly appointed Fed Chair. The S&P 500 continues to trade above its 125-day moving average.
If anyone would like my full write up, let me know and I can post it in the comments!