Almost all markets retreated in May

Mega-cap tech strength meant the S&P 500 eked out a tiny gain in May, but it was not a good month for most investors. The MSCI All Country world index fell. So did the S&P Europe 350, erasing its second-quarter gain, after indices in 14 of 16 European countries declined.

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Developed markets outside the US, emerging markets, frontier markets – all slipped last month. Indeed, even in the US, seven of the S&P 500′s 11 sectors fell at least 4 per cent, notes Raymond James strategist David Cox. US small-cap indices also retreated. As Topdown Charts’ Callum Thomas put it, some US large-cap stocks were “laughing” in May, but “everything else” was “having a bad time”.