Weekly Market Commentary: S&P 500 Index Continues Streak of Weekly Increases

Sunflower Bank Weekly Market Commentary: May 26, 2026

Each week, our Wealth Management team analyzes the U.S. stock market and bond market activity and news of the previous week, summarizing their findings into a weekly market update report. The key points of this week's commentary, "S&P 500 Index Continues Streak of Weekly Increases," include:

• Equity markets rose again last week as the S&P 500 extended its streak of consecutive positive weeks to eight. The S&P 500 increased +0.9%, the Nasdaq 100 gained +1.2%, and the Russell 2000 rose +2.7%. International markets also participated in the rally. The MSCI EAFE Index, a measure of developed markets, increased +2.2%, and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose +1.1%.
• Bond yields were mixed across the curve and oil prices fell as traders regained hope that a deal would be reached to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
• Turning to earnings, the highlight last week was Nvidia’s first quarter earnings report. The company reported results and issued guidance well ahead of published analyst expectations, but the stock dipped -2% on the day following the report. The company’s CEO was characteristically bullish on the level of investment in artificial intelligence, and commented that spend on development of AI tools is accelerating as they become increasingly useful. In a proof point for the value that AI models are creating, the Wall Street Journal reported last week that Anthropic – the AI lab behind Claude – is projected to generate almost $11 billion in revenue in its second quarter. That amount represents a doubling quarter-over-quarter.

  
  

Download This Week's Full Update