Using our publicly available analysis tools, we examined the performance of the S&P 500 index during the month of May 2025. The S&P 500 index gained 6.15% in May 2025, the best May performance since May 1990, the sixth best May performance since May 1930, and the best single-month performance for any month since November 2023. Importantly, as of the end of May 2025, year-to-date return for the S&P 500 index is in positive territory (+0.51%).
As we closed the month of May, we used our publicly available analysis tools to place the performance of the S&P 500 index within a historical context of market performance. In particular, we wished to better understand how S&P 500 index performance in May 2025 compared to performance in May of previous years.
We start with a look at the S&P 500 daily returns in May 2025 (Figure 1). The largest single-day gain recorded in May 2025 (+3.26% on 5/12/2025) is the third largest single-day gain recorded since November 2022 (Figure 2).
Historically and on average, the S&P 500 index has shown positive returns in May. Figure 3 shows average monthly (January to December) returns from January 1995 to May 2025. Based on this 31-year dataset, the S&P 500 has exhibited an average return of +0.79% in May.
To delve deeper into the analysis shown in Figure 3 with a focus on the month of May, we examined the S&P 500 index performance for every May from 1990 to 2025 (Figure 4). In May 2025, the S&P 500 index had a gain of 6.15%. As shown in Figure 4, this is the best May performance since May 1990. While not shown in Figure 4, the May 2025 performance is the sixth best May performance since May 1930 (see Performance-to-Date in Market History).
We then looked at monthly returns of the S&P 500 index from November 2023 to May 2025 (Figure 5). Figure 5 shows that May 2025 performance is the best performance for any month since November 2023.
May 2025 was a good month for the S&P 500 index. The S&P 500 index gained 6.15%, the highest gain for any May since May 1990. The gain was also the highest single-month gain for any month since November 2023. All in all, the gains in May 2025 uplifted the index into positive territory for the year. As of 5/30/2025, year-to-date return for the S&P 500 index is +0.51%.
To gain additional historical insights about market index performance, use any one of our Market Index Analysis tools. We use these analysis tools ourselves to gain insights into market performance and to highlight a variety of interesting observations in our historical insights articles.
