May 2024 Commentary: Power Play

Summary

• May was nearly ideal for most asset classes, and U.S. equities performed best as large cap and small cap stocks both rose 5%. Intermediate-term bonds ended the month up1.7%—their best monthly return this year.
• While AI excitement remains centered on mega-cap technology companies like Nvidia, there is growing attention on the infrastructure needed for AI development, particularly the vast data and significant electricity required to train and run learning models.
• At the sector level, information technology was the top performer, gaining 10% over May, followed by utilities, which ended the month up 8%.
• Markets have benefitted from the easing of inflation pressures, but maintaining stability requires keeping both inflation and bond yields contained.

Read and download the commentary here.