Stocks Shake Off Chip Sector Concerns, End the Session Up:
Markets climbed last week on two tailwinds: sustained investor appetite for artificial intelligence plays and mounting speculation that a Middle East peace deal could be imminent.
The S&P 500 Index advanced 0.88%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index edged ahead 0.45%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 2.13%. The MSCI EAFE Index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, rose 2.16%.1,2
Source: Bloomberg Finance, L.P. (Performance data normalized 05/15/26 = 0)
S&P 500’s 8th Winning Week
Stocks sputtered out of the gate as a capacity issue amid soaring demand in the memory chip space put pressure on those stocks, along with the AI trade and tech more broadly.3
Then markets took a leg up midweek as investor optimism returned for a Middle East peace deal; oil prices and Treasury yields fell. Investors also looked ahead to a quarterly earnings report from one of the megacap AI chipmakers. The Dow hit a fresh record close.4,5
Then, on Friday, markets rallied once again as investors continued to hold out hope that a Middle East peace deal would materialize.
Kevin Warsh was sworn in as the new Fed chair, while investor enthusiasm over the AI trade and other tech stocks added to the market’s ebullient sentiment. The Dow closed at another record high, while the S&P 500 finished its eighth consecutive week in the green, its longest weekly winning streak since 2023.6
Sources: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Charles Schwab
Fed Meeting Minutes
The Federal Reserve released minutes from its April Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Jerome Powell’s last FOMC meeting as Fed Chair.
The minutes revealed that if the Fed were to adjust rates sometime during the remainder of this year, it might be a rate hike rather than a rate cut.7
This Week: Key Economic Data
Source: Bloomberg Finance L.P.
This Week: Companies Reporting Earnings
Source: EarningsWhispers
Author
Gary Aiken
Chief Investment Officer
Concord Asset Management
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Footnotes and Sources
1WSJ.com, May 22, 2026
2Investing.com, May 22, 2026
3CNBC.com, May 18, 2026
4CNBC.com, May 20, 2026
5CNBC.com, May 21, 2026
6WSJ.com, May 22, 2026
7WSJ.com, May 20, 2026
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