Insights

Concerns about ongoing military action in the Middle East, higher oil prices, accelerating inflation, and the Federal Reserve’s first rate increase in nine months gave investors plenty to navigate over the quarter.

Despite another month of concerning headlines regarding the war in the Middle East and renewed focus on U.S. government debt as it surpassed $40 trillion, stocks rallied across the board. With a modest increase in oil prices, the energy sector led the market higher, aided by a rally in technology stocks. Read more.

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The lack of progress in negotiations to end the war in the Middle East and a return to military action led to a 21 percent rise in oil prices and a mixed month for stocks. Much of the weakness was concentrated in several high-flying artificial intelligence beneficiaries focused on semiconductors and memory. However, underlying trends in the market remained positive.

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Against a backdrop of easing geopolitical risks and strong earnings growth, markets rallied strongly across the board. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq turned in their strongest quarters since the second quarter of 2020. Throughout the quarter, the U.S. and Iran moved slowly toward the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to potentially end the war in the Middle East. As a result, the benchmark U.S. crude price declined more than 30 percent.

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Markets wrapped up May on a strong note, extending the rally that began after the March sell-off. While ongoing geopolitical risks continue to exist, hopes for a negotiated end to the Middle East conflict and strong corporate earnings buoyed investor sentiment.

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Markets rallied notably in April, largely offsetting the declines they experienced in March. Solid fundamentals and improving investor sentiment helped drive an impressive rebound for markets during the month despite continued geopolitical risks.