The S&P 500 has surged more than 6% over the past five days, its biggest gain since last year's tariff tantrum
The stock market is seeing a dramatic comeback.
What a difference a week makes.
After a stunning run-up in the second quarter, semiconductor stocks and other highflying momentum names hit a rough patch last month. By the time the dust settled, the iShares Semiconductor exchange-traded fund SOXX, which aims to track the PHLX Semiconductor Index SOX, had fallen 21.2% in July, its biggest monthly drop in more than 20 years. Goldman Sachs's High Beta Momentum Basket tallied its biggest drawdown since 2000 as its long positions took a beating while shorts squeezed higher.
The pullback at the index level may have ultimately been shallow - at its intraday low on June 9, the index was barely down 5%. But that hasn't stopped the S&P 500 from shooting higher over the past five trading sessions, as semiconductor names, software stocks and members of the Magnificent Seven group of megacap tech stocks have rallied in tandem.
In terms of speed, this latest recovery is almost on par with what investors witnessed coming out of the last tough stretch for the market back in March.
BTIG's chief market technician Jonathan Krinsky and other strategists highlighted in commentary shared with MarketWatch some factoids that help to underscore just how quickly things have turned around.
-- The SOX was on pace for its best five-day stretch since the five days ending March 26, 2020. The index is up more than 17%, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
-- The S&P 500 has surged 6.3% over the past five trading days, its strongest five-day percentage-point gain since April 28, 2025.
-- Through Tuesday, Microsoft MSFT rose 26.2% over four trading days, the best four-day gain since Oct. 20, 2000, when it rose 29.4%. Although Microsoft was trading slightly lower on Wednesday, the stock was still on track for what would be its biggest five-day gain since Nov. 2, 1987, Dow Jones Market Data showed.
-- Data from Cboe Global Markets showed trading volume in S&P 500 call options topped 4 million contracts on Tuesday for the first time ever. The heavy trading in bullish options is believed to have helped push the Cboe Volatility Index, better known as the VIX or Wall Street's "fear gauge," higher even as the S&P 500 also rose - an unusual dynamic.
-- While the market turnaround has been swift, most S&P 500 sectors haven't quite caught up to the index yet. According to SentimenTrader, only the industrials and financials sectors managed to hit all-time highs alongside the S&P 500 on Tuesday. "Even though breadth among stocks in the S&P 500 has been excellent during this latest run, most of its major sectors are still off their highs," the SentimenTrader analysts wrote in commentary shared with MarketWatch.
For investors who prefer index funds, last month's stock-market drama may have hardly even registered. The S&P 500 finished only marginally lower for July, its second straight month in the red.
And yet that didn't stop options traders from trying to chase the market higher on Tuesday, as they piled into calls, including many contracts set to expire within days or hours.
Krinsky isn't holding out hope for a sustained rebound for highflying momentum names. He expects semiconductor stocks to rally back to their 50-day moving average before turning lower once again.
Others said they remained bullish on the tech space - and the broader U.S. market.
"The weight of the evidence continues to support giving the bull market the benefit of the doubt, even as we experience more bumps along the way," Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at Truist, said in commentary shared with MarketWatch. He added that he and his team remain convinced that the artificial-intelligence trade will flourish, while the broader market will stay resilient.
-Joseph Adinolfi
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