From Equity Research
Rebounding equity markets during May captured investor optimism that the worst may be behind the economy against a backdrop of continuing fiscal and monetary support from governmental policies. Market enthusiasm seemed to increase as the month progressed as pandemic lockdowns were lifted spurring equities to move into valuation bands that could be ahead of fundamentals. Investor optimism improved as seen in the VIX Index, or “fear gauge” which trended down from April levels in the mid-30’s to about 27.5 at the end of May. For the full month, all three major equity indexes increased with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 4.3%, the S&P 500® index up 4.5%, and the smaller cap weighted Russell 2000® up 6.4%.