S&P 500 Sector Sentiment — 2026-05-20
S&P 500 Sector Sentiment — 2026-05-20
Current tone: neutral
Latest score: 43.5/100
Cross-sector dispersion: 90.9 pts
The current tone label is neutral, with a score of 43.50, indicating a stable market. The Forward return playbook suggests a median return of 0.95 over the next month. Sector map analysis reveals Energy and Consumer Staples as leaders, while Utilities and Consumer Disc. are laggards. Investors should monitor Consumer Disc.'s performance closely, as it may impact the overall market trend.
Scan the Forward return playbook for context, then the Sector map for leadership and laggards.
Leaders include Energy, Consumer Staples.
Laggards include Utilities, Consumer Disc..
Forward return playbook (SPX)
Historical medians and hit ratios from past dates that looked similar to today (conditional on the sentiment regime + a tight score band).
| Horizon | Median SPX | Hit Ratio | N |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1M | 1.0% | 63.2% | 383 |
| 3M | 1.4% | 62.9% | 383 |
| 6M | 1.4% | 58.7% | 383 |
| 12M | 5.3% | 71.5% | 383 |
Sector map (0=cold, 100=hot)
Leading / Hot
- Energy: 97.2/100
- Consumer Staples: 80.3/100
- Comm. Services: 69.6/100
Lagging / Cold
- Utilities: 6.3/100
- Consumer Disc.: 13.7/100
- Materials: 13.7/100
Neutral
- Industrials: 57.7/100
- Technology: 42.6/100
- Real Estate: 40.7/100
- Financials: 36.7/100
- Health Care: 20.0/100
Read-through
- Higher dispersion usually means stock selection and factor tilts matter more than pure index direction.
- Use the playbook as a bias check, then size risk around the sector map (leaders vs laggards).
