So much for 'sell in May and go away'.
May turned out to be a stellar month for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and the broader ASX share market.
Over the month, the ASX 200 returned 4.2%. This is around half of the total return you can typically expect from ASX 200 shares over a year. Not bad!
But of course, some shares fared better than others during the month, outperforming the ASX 200. And some blue chips, like the big four banks, did exceptionally well. Others, like Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) and Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW), did relatively poorly.
So here are some of the best performing ASX shares over the month of May
Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)
By any metric possible, the Afterpay share price had a phenomenal month in May. Afterpay started the month at $31.20 and finished it at $47.41. This delivered the buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) giant a monthly gain of 52%. This ASX 200 stock also hit a new all-time high of $50.01 during May.
Afterpay shares are now over 400% higher than the lows we saw in March, proving once again how treacherous betting against this volatile company can be.
Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)
Another ASX payments company, Zip had an even better month in May than Afterpay. Zip Co shares started off the month at $2.39 and finished up at $3.75 – a rise of 56.9%. Like Afterpay, investors' concerns that BNPL companies would be inundated with defaults has proven to be largely unfounded.
It's probably very good timing for the company to announce a trading halt and a capital acquisition program, which it did yesterday.
Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)
Fortescue Metals is another ASX 200 company that had a fantastic month during May. Its shares were up over 16% by the end of the month. This preceded the printing of another new, all-time high of $14.88 per share today.
A rising iron ore price, partly caused by production issues in Brazil throughout May, was the main driver of the rising Fortescue share price. Iron ore is now at a multi-year high at close to US$100 per tonne. If this price holds up for the rest of the year, I think we can expect the Fortescue share price to do the same.
Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB)
Here we have another ASX 200 company that pulled a rabbit out of its hat in May with a 35.3% increase in its share price for the month.
Webjet, as an ASX travel stock, was smashed in March as travel restrictions were implemented. But rumours of a possible 'trans-Tasman bubble' that will allow travel between Australia and New Zealand in the near future has partially restored investors' confidence in the company. Even so, this ASX 200 share remains nearly 60% lower than its 2020 highs.
