These Were the Best-Performing Asset Classes in May. Can They Continue to Lead?

2026-06-04 12:05:00 ET

May was a good month for most asset classes. U.S. stocks and international stocks (both developed and emerging market) advanced strongly during the month. Several bond categories were also up for the month, including both investment-grade and junk (high-yield) bonds, as well as inflation-protected bonds.

But the biggest winner for May was U.S. stocks, as measured by the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index ETF (NYSEMKT: VTI) , which tracks the entire investable U.S. equity market. That ETF climbed 5.2% during the month. The largest subset of U.S. stocks by market cap, the S&P 500 index, rose 5.3% in May, extending the index's 3.5-year bull market by another month (the current bull market began in October 2022).

Tech stocks did even better. The Nasdaq-100 index, which is tracked by the Invesco QQQ ETF Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) , soared 10.6% in May. Several mega-cap tech stocks significantly outperformed, with Micron Technology up 89% over the past month, Advanced Micro Devices up 41%, and Oracle 40% higher.

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