S&P 500 rises 4.8% as major stock indexes bounce back in May

Major stock indexes returned to growth in May after widespread losses in April.

The S&P 500 rose 4.8% at the end of May from a month earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and small-cap Russell 2000 also rose by 2.3% and 4.9%, respectively.

Stocks are rising as investors anticipate major central banks will soon cut benchmark interest rates, even as monetary policymakers debate their next moves.

Sector performance

All but a single S&P 500 sector — energy — rose during May.

Within the energy sector, 13 of 22 S&P 500 stocks fell during the month. ConocoPhillips was the worst-performing energy stock with a 7.3% drop, while Williams Cos. Inc. registered the largest gain in the sector at 8.2%

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Information technology rose the most among S&P 500 sectors during the month at 10.0%, bolstered by double-digit gains from stocks including HP Inc., Fair Isaac Corp. and NVIDIA Corp.

Largest gains, drops

First Solar Inc. registered the highest gain of any S&P 500 stock in May, rising by 54.1%. The company beat first-quarter earnings estimates in results reported May 1 and received a further stock bump later in the month after an analyst upgrade, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

EPAM Systems Inc. fell the most among S&P 500 stocks in May, dropping 24.4% over the month. The software developer issued second-quarter EPS guidance short of analysts' estimates during its first-quarter earnings report May 9.