Most markets continued to rise in May, extending April’s bounce-back after March’s broad and deep selloff, based on a set of ETFs. The main exception among the major asset classes: commodities, which fell sharply, posting the first monthly decline this year.

US stocks led the rally in May: Vanguard Total US Stock Market ETF (VTI) rose 5.2%, the fund’s strongest monthly gain in a year. Developed-market equities ex-US (VEA) posted a solid second-place performance, advancing 4.3% and marking a second-straight monthly increase.

US bonds (BND) edged higher for a second month. Inflation-indexed Treasuries (TIP) also moved higher again in May. Notably, TIP is outperforming the broad US fixed-income benchmark (BND) so far in 2026 by more than a percentage point: 1.7% vs. 0.5%.

The main loser last month: a broad measure of commodities (GSG), which fell 7.5%. Despite the setback, commodities are still the leading performer for the major asset classes, clocking in with a near-38% rally in 2026.

All but one of the major asset classes are posting year-to-date gains. The only red ink on the ledger for 2026: governments bonds in developed markets ex-US (BWX) are off 0.9% for the year.

The Global Market Index (GMI) rallied again in May, rising 4.1% and extending its winning streak to 13 of the past 14 months.  GMI is an unmanaged benchmark (maintained by The Capital Spectator) that holds all the major asset classes (except cash) in market-value weights via ETFs and serves as a competitive benchmark for globally diversified, multi-asset-class portfolio strategies.