The VIX, or "fear index" as commonly known, is back to pre-pandemic levels and various investor opinion surveys show a clear rise in the level of optimism, both signs of market complacency. Each week, the Syz investment team takes you through the last seven days in seven charts.

The S&P 500 enters bull market Stocks closed the week modestly higher as the S&P 500 Index moved into bull market territory, or up more than 20% off its mid-October lows. Market advance is broadening, with small-caps outperforming large-caps, and value shares outperforming growth stocks. An equally weighted S&P 500 Index also rose more than its capitalization-weighted counterpart for the first time in eight weeks and by the largest margin since late March.

A mixed bag for markets in May May saw First Republic Bank fail, another rate hike in the US and Europe and commodities hit a 2 year low. However, the job market remained resilient, an agreement was found to prevent a US debt default and AI mania propelled tech stocks even higher. Each month, the Syz investment team takes you through the last month in ten charts.

In the United States, May experienced a notable increase in yields, with an average rise of 25 bps. This rise was supported by the extension of the US debt ceiling, which mitigated a significant downside risk to the growth outlook.

The major US equity indices recorded solid gains for the week, with the S&P 500 Index touching its highest intraday level since mid-August 2022. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index notched its sixth consecutive weekly gain and hit its best level since mid-April 2022. In contrast with the past several weeks, however, the rally was broad-based, with strong gains in both value and growth stocks, as well as small-caps.

In the nick of time, President Biden and House Speaker McCarthy reach final agreement on debt ceiling, Nvidia on the verge of joining the trillionaires' club and another Fed hike in June seems highly likely. Each week, the Syz investment team takes you through the last seven days in seven charts.

The potential resolution of the debt ceiling issue and the release of key economic indicators, such as inflation and unemployment figures, further intensified pressure on government bonds, causing them to decline by over 2% in May.

The Tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index is up 24% year-to-date — a stark contrast to the 0.16% decline of the narrowly focused Dow Jones Industrial Average over the period. Alongside the debt ceiling negotiations, the signal event in the week may have been Thursday’s 24% jump in the shares in chipmaker NVIDIA, which took the company’s market capitalization to nearly USD 1 trillion, the sixth most highest market cap in the world.

The past week proved challenging for U.S. Treasury bonds, which experienced a decline of -1.4% due to progress made in debt ceiling talks. The 2-year U.S. Treasury yield saw a significant increase of nearly 30bps, marking its largest weekly rise since June 2022.

Last week, the Nasdaq 100 reached its highest level since April 2022, the largest market caps of the S&P500 are resolutely up since the start of the year and yet Cathie Wood's ARK Invest fund sharply underperforms the FAANGs. Each week, the Syz investment team takes you through the last seven days in seven charts.