🚀 S&P 500 up 6.2% in May

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Market Overview
Read time 1.4 minutes

Year To Date Performances:

1. The S&P 500 closed nearly flat on Friday, capping a strong May with a 6.2% gain despite lingering trade tensions. Investors largely looked past President Trump's claim that China violated its trade deal and fresh uncertainty over potential tech-sector restrictions. The Nasdaq rose 9.6% in May, its best showing since November 2023, while the Dow added 3.9%. A recent U.S.-UK trade agreement bolstered hopes for more global deals, even as legal battles over new tariffs, including a court stay on Trump’s proposed levies, added volatility. Markets remain wary amid stalled China talks and unpredictable trade policy shifts.

2. President Trump held a rally at U.S. Steel's Irvin Works plant in Pennsylvania on Friday, following his surprise support for its controversial merger with Japan’s Nippon Steel, a deal previously blocked by President Biden on national security grounds. Trump now frames the arrangement as a U.S.-controlled "partnership" involving $14 billion in investment, while details remain murky. U.S. Steel would become a wholly owned Nippon subsidiary but retain its U.S. identity, with provisions including a "golden share" giving the U.S. government power over board seats. Investors, unions, and policymakers await clarity on whether this deal truly preserves American control or risks eroding it.

3. PBS has sued Donald Trump to block his executive order cutting federal funding to the broadcaster, arguing it violates both constitutional protections and long-standing telecommunications law. The lawsuit, filed in D.C. federal court just days after NPR filed a similar challenge, asserts that Trump’s order, claiming PBS and NPR fail to provide unbiased news, is illegal retaliation against critical coverage and amounts to unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination. PBS argues the president has no authority to direct funding decisions based on content and that the move threatens the editorial independence of public media.

4. Headlines

   1. Tesla gained 22% in May as investors gained confidence with Elon Musk announcing he’d be refocusing on the company and leaving DOGE.

   2. Taylor Swift has purchased the rights to her first six albums, giving her complete ownership of all her recordings.

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