High Yield Corporate Bond vs the S&P 500 (HYG): is it outperforming?
As of 12 October 2026, High Yield Corporate Bond (HYG) is trailing the S&P 500, over the past month and over the longer run. HYG trails the S&P 500 by 3.3 points over one month and ranks #44 of 115 groups Zensei tracks.
Where high yield corporate bond stands now
As of 12 October 2026, High Yield Corporate Bond (HYG) ranks #44 of the 115 groups Zensei tracks by one-month return against the S&P 500. It is out of favor: it trails the S&P 500 on both rotation windows — 3.3 points behind over the past month and 2.2 points behind over the longer, time-shifted window. That is the Underperformers quadrant.
On the shorter tape, HYG's momentum is weakening: the intraday trend that carried the move is cooling across the shorter windows. HYG's relative-strength line has broken below its long-term average — the long-term outperformance trend is no longer intact. Both signals point the same direction here: the market is not rewarding this group on either horizon.
The thing to watch from here is the one-month spread: underperformers only become interesting when the recent window turns positive first — until then, the market is voting elsewhere.
HYG vs SPY: head-to-head returns
Over the week to 12 October 2026, HYG rose 0.4% while the S&P 500 rose 0.4%. The table compares HYG and SPY (the S&P 500) over every window Zensei tracks. The spread is the difference: positive means HYG won that window.
Prices as of · computed from daily adjusted closes · how we measure
High Yield Corporate Bond on the rotation map, against the 11 broad S&P 500 sectors. Vertical: 1-month spread vs the S&P 500. Horizontal: the longer, time-shifted window.
High Yield Corporate Bond vs the market — common questions
Is high yield corporate bond outperforming the S&P 500?
No. As of 12 October 2026, HYG trails the S&P 500 by 3.3 points over the past month.
What is HYG?
HYG is iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF. Zensei uses it to measure high yield corporate bond against the S&P 500 (SPY).
What quadrant is high yield corporate bond in right now?
As of 12 October 2026, high yield corporate bond is in the Underperformers quadrant — trailing the S&P 500 on both windows. The Zensei methodology page explains the quadrants.
Recent changes
- ·First tracked: trailing the market
Related sectors
Track high yield corporate bond against the whole market
Zensei Edge maps 100+ sectors and themes against the S&P 500 — with the stocks inside each one, rotation history and alerts when leadership changes hands.
Compare all sectors: Sector heat map · Sector P/E ratios