The S&P/ASX 200 has slipped into the negative for the 2022 calendar year following a 2.6 per cent fall in May, new data from S&P Dow Jones Indices has revealed.
Australia’s largest listed companies performed slightly better than the broader index, including falls of 1.7 per cent for the S&P/ASX 20 and 2.0 per cent for the S&P/ASX 50.
Overall, indices mostly fell across both Australia and New Zealand during the month, with a gain for S&P/NZX Emerging Opportunities being the most notable exception in the region, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices global head of index investment strategy Tim Edwards.
“The S&P/ASX 200 materials sector was one of the few other indices to finish the month higher, rising just 0.14 per cent, but a 2 per cent slip in the heavyweight financials sector was the more significant contributor to the Australian benchmark’s overall performance,” he said.
“Declines in the information technology and real estate sectors, both off 9 per cent, may claim the headlines; the tech sector now stands at a 29 per cent decline year-to-date.”
Significant monthly falls were also recorded for consumer staples (-6.63 per cent), communication services (-6.47 per cent) and consumer discretionary (-5.22 per cent).
The health care (-1.12 per cent), energy (-0.50 per cent) and utilities (-0.19 per cent) sectors fared better than the ASX 200 overall.
“Factors followed a similar theme to sectors, with gains proving hard to find, but the thematically-targeted S&P/ASX Infrastructure and S&P/ASX 200 Resources indices stood out from the crowd with 1 per cent gains in May,” said Mr Edwards.
“Meanwhile, the Value half of the S&P/ASX 200 held on to its positive returns for 2022, limiting its losses this month to just 2 per cent.”
Turning to the other major indices, the S&P/ASX Emerging Companies index was down 7.70 per cent and the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries index closed the month 7.01 per cent lower.
Additionally, the S&P/ASX MidCap 50 posted a fall of 3.41 per cent, the S&P/ASX 300 declined 2.76 per cent and the S&P/ASX 100 dropped 2.19 per cent.
As of the end of May, the S&P/ASX 200 was down 1.27 per cent year-to-date and up 4.84 per cent over the past 12 months.
Jon Bragg
Jon Bragg is a journalist for Momentum Media's Investor Daily, nestegg and ifa. He enjoys writing about a wide variety of financial topics and issues and exploring the many implications they have on all aspects of life.
