Key points:

  • At the end of May, all three major indices rose: the S&P 500 – by 4.8%, the Nasdaq – by 6.9%, and the Dow Jones – by 2.4%.
  • The Dow Jones posted its biggest gain since November 2023.
  • Dell shares fell 17.9% on Friday after forecasting below-expected quarterly profit.

Friday was marked by growth in the main US indices. The Dow Jones achieved its biggest one-day gain since November 2023. Repositioning at the end of the month prompted a sharp rally in trading, which was the final chord in a strong May for all three indices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 574.84 points, or 1.51%, to 38,686.32. The S&P 500 added 42.03 points, or 0.80%, to 5,277.51. The Nasdaq Composite, on the other hand, was slightly lower, losing 2.06 points, or 0.01%, to close at 16,735.02.

May results for the American stock market

It is worth noting that May was generally a good month for US stock markets.

Friday trading on the US stock market was marked by growth in most sectors of the S&P 500 index. The leader was the energy sector, which added 2.5%. The technology sector was the only one to close with a slight decline.

At the end of May, the S&P 500 showed growth of about 4.8%, where the Nasdaq jumped by 6.9% and the Dow by 2.4%.

Despite the overall growth over the monthly horizon, markets showed a correction this week. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq snapped five-week winning streaks, losing 0.5% and 1.1%, respectively. The Dow Jones fell 0.9%.

Among Friday’s biggest decliners were shares of Dell, which fell 17.9%. The company forecast quarterly profit below market expectations and also pointed to rising costs to build servers capable of handling large artificial intelligence workloads, which would negatively impact annual profit.

Countering Dell’s decline, Zscaler shares jumped 8.5% after the security provider forecast fourth-quarter results above estimates.

Gap shares rose 28.6%. The apparel maker raised its full-year sales forecast and its first-quarter results beat market expectations. This was further confirmation that the company’s turnaround strategy is beginning to bear fruit.

Expectations for a rate cut are postponed

There were 14.60 billion stock transactions on US exchanges on Friday. This is slightly higher than the average for the last 20 trading days, which is 12.56 billion.

The price index for personal consumer expenditures (PCE) in the US rose 0.3% last month, repeating the result in March. This coincided with analysts’ forecasts. It is noted that the growth rate of consumer spending was lower than expected.

According to futures markets, the chances of the Fed cutting the interest rate in September are almost equal to the chances of maintaining the current level. The likelihood of a second rate cut in December has also increased.