Although the first half of the month was weak, US equities got enough of a lift in the second half of April to push the S&P 500 back into the black for the month. The weak first half and strong second half made this April's pattern end up resembling its typical pattern that we highlighted in our Chart of the Day earlier in the month. With another trading month kicking off on Monday, in today's Chart of the Day, we looked at the intra-month performance of the S&P 500 during the month of May. While the old saying goes, "Sell in May and go away," the month hasn't necessarily been a weak one for the S&P 500. Going back to 1983, the index has averaged a gain of just under 1% (0.99%) with positive returns over two-thirds of the time (23 out of 34 months). While longer term results have been positive, interestingly enough, May hasn't been particularly positive during the current bull market as the S&P 500 has seen an average decline of 0.76% with positive returns half of the time.
As far as the intra-month pattern for May is concerned, the middle of the month has historically been the weakest period, especially during the current bull market. Even over the longer term, though, May has seen gains early on and then drifted slightly lower in the middle two weeks. As we approach Memorial Day, however, the positive vibes of Summer seem to put bulls in a buying mode as the final week of the month has typically seen solid gains.
Read More
Read More