Market Review: May 15, 2026

Closing Recap

Friday, May 15, 2026

U.S. stocks end Friday lower following renewed inflation fears, soaring Treasury yields, and higher oil prices on this option expiration Friday…but the S&P 500 still finished the week higher, a 7^th straight week of gains, though the Nasdaq slipped, snapping its 6-week win streak. On the day, Energy (XLE) was the lone sector higher up 2% (and up 6.7% on the week) with oil prices climbing, while Technology (XLK) was down on day, but +0.4% on the week. Due to the fact of the heavy weighting in tech, major averages closed higher despite several rising inflation reports (CPI, PPI in the US and PPI in Japan overnight spiked), boosting Treasury yields to highest levels in months (on long and short end) and the dollar gained 1% on the week, pushing metals lower. The Smallcap Russell 2000 index fell over 2% amid rising interest rate hike fears given this weeks data. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index tumbled -1,244 points or 2% to 61,409 after higher PPI inflation data, the Shanghai Index fell 42 points or 1% to 4,135, the Hang Seng Index dropped -426 points to 25,962 and the South Korean Kospi slumps more than 6.5%. In Europe, the German DAX is down -378 points to 24,077, while the FTSE 100 is down -144 points to 10,228. Semiconductors (SOX) slid after record highs this week, while software (IGV) posted a day of strength led by MSFT. In other news, a day after the biggest IPO of the year in Cerebras (CRBS) 30M shares deal opened at $350 in Nasdaq debut Thursday vs $185 IPO price, traded as high as $385 before falling under $300 today, Reuters reported Friday Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite maker SpaceX (SPCX) is planning to price its blockbuster IPO as early as June 11 and has picked Nasdaq as its listing venue.

Interesting stats: U.S. equity fund inflows surged to a three-week high in the week to May 13. According to LSEG Lipper data, investors pumped up a net $22.37B into U.S. equity funds in their largest weekly net purchase since $27.97B of inflows in the week to April 22. Inflows to U.S. large-cap funds of $17.06B were the largest in six weeks. Mid-cap and small-cap funds, however, had net outflows of $1.25B and $2.53B, respectively. The technology sector gained record weekly net investments of $8.51B, while financials faced an outflow of $1.37B – Reuters per LSEG Lipper data. @Bluekurtic noted on X, “S&P 500 just logged its 18th ATH of 2026 and 7th in May. Since 1950, only 3 other years saw $SPX make 7+ May highs and each delivered double digit returns: 1995: +34.1%, 2013: +29.6%, 2017: +19.4%”

• April industrial production rose +0.7% (vs. consensus +0.3%) and vs March -0.3%; April mining output -0.1% (March -1.6%), Utilities output +1.9% (March -1.4%). Capacity use rate 76.1% (consensus 75.8%) vs March 75.7% (previous 75.7%) and April manufacturing output +0.6% (consensus +0.2%) vs March +0.1%.
• Japan’s Producer Price Index surged 4.9% y/y in April (above est. 3.0%, prev. 2.9%), the highest since 2023, with m/m at 2.3% (vs. est. 0.8%, prev. 1.0%). The acceleration was driven by petroleum and coal products, consistent with the Hormuz energy shock. Import prices jumped 17.5% y/y (vs. prior 8.0%) with petroleum/coal/gas again a main factor and export prices ran at 18.9% y/y (vs. prior 12.2%).

• U.S. WTI crude oil futures settle at $105.42/bbl, up $4.25, or 4.20% while Brent crude advanced $354 or 3.35% to settle at $109.26 per barrel as renewed escalation fears and mixed signals from Tehran drove the move. Front-month gas futures for June delivery on the NYMEX rose 6.7 cents, or 2.3%, to settle at $2.961 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), their highest close since March 27. Front Month Nymex Crude for June delivery gained $10.00 per barrel, or 10.48% this week, up 5 of last 6 sessions.

• The advance in the greenback this week comes as U.S. Treasury yields continue to ascend, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury note reaching 4.581%, its highest in a year, following several economic data points earlier this week pointed to rising price pressures with the Strait of Hormuz largely shuttered due to the Iran war. Treasury yields broadly on both the long end and short end of the curve.
• The 2-year yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, was up 9 basis points at 4.082%, the highest since March 2025 (up 19bps this week). The yield on Benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 13.4 basis points to 4.59%, the highest since May 2025 (up 23 bps this week). The 30-year bond yield rose 11.5 basis points to 5.127%, also the highest since May 2025 (up 18bps this week).

• Off price Retail Q1 earnings preview (BURL, TJX, ROST) at Deutsche bank says sentiment towards off-price retail remains positive with elevated Q126 SSS expectations saying this reflects tailwinds from stimulus in the US and increased value-seeking behavior, which combine with company-specific SSS initiatives and easier compares. The firm remains constructive on ROST and TJX, which it believes are best positioned for estimate upside from the incremental consumer transaction, while it remains sidelined on BURL as it waits for more consistent execution.
• Apparel & Footwear Retail: BOOT reported a FQ4 beat with EPS of $1.45 (vs. cons $1.42) and comps of +6.1% (vs. cons +4.2%). Comp growth was driven by Retail comp of +5.2% and E-comm comp of +14.1%. Gross margin of 36.3% (-80bps y/y) beat consensus of 36.1%; FQ4 comp growth of +6.1% included monthly comps of: +6.7% in January, +7.7% in February, and +4.5% in March. LULU shares fall for a 6th straight day and at lowest levels since December 2018.

• Casino & Gaming: GAMB shares tumble after Q1 miss and lower guide; Q1 EBITDA came in below Street tests, resulting in a 2026 guide down largely driven by EU regulatory headwinds and a continued poor SEO environment; announced a ~25% workforce reduction and recently announced mgmt succession plan.

• In Utilities & Power: FRMI was downgraded at Evercore ISI on the power plant development company to in line from outperform after recent executive departures; CNP filed mixed shelf offering; FE was upgraded to Buy from Hold at TD Cowen saying it faces less risk than peers.

• Consumer Finance: COF 30+ day performing delinquencies rate for Auto 4.02% at April end, April Auto net charge-offs rate 1.20%, April domestic credit card net charge-offs rate 4.94% and 30+ day performing delinquencies rate for domestic credit card 3.44% at April end. Citigroup (C) said credit card charge-offs 2.11% in April and credit card delinquency rate 1.4% at April end.
• Crypto sector: GEMI shares jump after the crypto exchange reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss and its founders injected $100M into the business. The investment was made by Winklevoss Capital Fund at $14 per share, with payment in bitcoin; Q1 Exchange revenue decreased 27% Y/y to $17.2M, reflecting lower spot trading activity/lower crypto market volumes, with total trading volume declining to $6.3B from $13.5B Y/y. MSTR said to buy back $1.5B of 2029 convertible notes for about $1.38B
• Financial Services: WEX announces $1B share repurchase program; announces David Foss as Chair of the board effective immediately

• TNGX downgraded to neutral at Piper and cut tgt to $16 from $24 after reported Q126 earnings yesterday that conveyed a potential change in development strategy for vopimetostat in PDAC.
• Insulin sector: DXCM shares bounced after the company gave long-term growth outlook at its investor day that impressed analysts. While activist investor Elliott Investment Management took a stake in the company and struck a settlement that will put two Independent directors on the board.

• Industrials: JP Morgan downgraded ALLE to neutral and AOS to Underweight and upgraded TKR to Neutral in Smallcap Industrials saying Q126 results revealed clear sector divergences within SMid Cap Industrials: the group rose 14.5% YTD, with Automation (+41.7%) and E&C (+2.2%) outperforming, Specialty down (-4.0%), and Building Products lagging (–4.9%) amid cost inflation and weak housing. Reflecting these shifts, JPMC upgrades TKR from UW to N as execution improved and sector momentum rotated and downgrades ALLE from Overweight to N due to margin and construction headwinds, and shift AOS to UW, taking a more cautious sector stance given its China and residential exposure.
• In Aerospace & Defense: Reuters reported SpaceX picks Nasdaq as listing venue for its initial public offering IPO and to price as early as June 11, set to list shares on June 12 under the symbol “SPCX”. BA shares extend declines after falling over 4% Thursday after President Trump confirmed China agreed to buy 200 Boeing planes, with a potential commitment of 750 planes; YSS shares fell despite Q1 revs rising 9% to $116M, above consensus $109.6M and still see FY26 revenue $545M-$595M, compared to consensus $567.74M. In Defense sector: BWXT was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank saying time with management during a multi-day NDR this week shows the company remains focused on disciplined execution, strict program management, mission focus, and long-term strategic planning. In drones, UMAC Q1 revenue came in well ahead of Street expectations

• IT Services & Consulting: GLOB Q1 revenues came in ahead of expectations, while EPS was in-line with estimates, growth was driven by its Ai-integrated delivery resonating with clients, driving growth with its top client clients (top 50 grew 5.2%), and margins were impacted by ~100bps due to FX.
• Optical sector: AAOI shares fell after enters equity distribution agreement of up to $600M common stock with Raymond James and Needham; POET slides after earnings results and following secondary (enters $400M Offering Agreement For 19M Shares With Single Institutional Investor) announcement.
• Data Infrastructure: VRT was initiated at Buy and $500 tgt at Loop Capital as believes this is just the beginning for this best-of-breed technology innovator that has already built intriguing fly-wheel effects and has had the arms of the Gen Ai “Cool Kids Club” wrapped around it.
• Networking & Equipment: ANET upgraded from Market Perform to Outperform at Raymond James based on its view that sales/growth improves in 2027 and beyond as Arista expands into new applications like scale-across and gains share in the Ai backend and campus. Also sees thematic Ai growth vectors emerging that play to Arista’s strengths: inference and reasoning workloads, MoE/expert-parallel models.
• Semi equipment: AMAT reported better than expected Q2 and provided Q3 outlook above the Street as guides Q3 revs $8.45-9.45B vs est $8.089B and adj EPS $3.16-3.56 vs est $2.88; the company expects semi business to grow 30%+ vs prior 20%+ expectations in 2026 with 80% of the Y/Y WFE growth to be driven by Ai driven leading edge F/L, DRAM, and advanced packaging markets and a similar profile in 2027.