S&P 500 Hits Record as Most Sectors Finish May in the Red

Benzinga reported Friday that the S&P 500 record close of 7,581 masks a deeply divided market. Eight of eleven sectors finished May in negative territory, even as the headline index printed a fresh all-time high.

One Trade Doing All the Heavy Lifting

The Nasdaq wrapped an 8% monthly gain at its own record. Information technology surged roughly 16% for the month. The SOXX semiconductor index climbed approximately 24%. Strip those two categories out and May looks flat to lower for most investors. That is a textbook case of narrow leadership, where a handful of names prop up an index while the broader market stagnates.

Also Read: Nvidia Tops $3 Trillion as AI Chip Demand Reshapes the Market

Dell’s Blowout Puts an Exclamation Point on AI Demand

Dell Technologies shares surged close to 30% after the company reported $16.1 billion in quarterly AI server revenue. The result underscored how concentrated capital spending on AI infrastructure has become. There are now 14 public companies valued above $1 trillion. Nvidia sits near $5.2 trillion, with Alphabet at $4.7 trillion and Apple at $4.5 trillion close behind. Micron crossed the $1 trillion mark for the first time this month. AMD topped $800 billion. Both rode the same AI-demand wave that carried the broader index.

Background: Oil’s Steepest Drop Since 2020

The month’s other big move came in energy markets. US and Iranian negotiators agreed to a 60-day ceasefire framework, with hopes that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen to normal traffic. Crude prices dropped sharply on the news. Brent settled near $91.68 a barrel and WTI near $87.86. That left Brent down roughly 19% from its end-of-April level, the steepest monthly decline since 2020. Cheaper oil removes one persistent inflation pressure, and equity markets welcomed the development accordingly.

What Jobs Week and Goldman’s New Target Mean

Goldman Sachs raised its year-end S&P 500 target to 8,000 from a prior 7,600, betting the AI engine sustains momentum. Bears counter that a rally carried by fewer than a dozen names is fragile by definition. One rough earnings print from a mega-cap name could reprice the whole tape quickly. Meanwhile, Anthropic is reportedly closing in on a fresh funding round that would value the AI startup near $900 billion. Robinhood added AI agents capable of monitoring prices and executing trades autonomously. With jobs data due this week, the next macro test arrives before the AI story gets a chance to breathe.

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