Skip to main content
Zensei
Lagging#52 of 115 by 1M spread

Muni Bond vs the S&P 500 (MUB): is it outperforming?

Over the past month, MUB has underperformed the S&P 500 by 1.1 points. Here is where that puts it in the market rotation — updated daily.

1M spread vs SPY
−1.1 pts
Quadrant
Lagging
Momentum
Weakening
RS health
Broken
Holdings P/E

Where MUB sits on the rotation map

Muni Bond highlighted against the 11 broad S&P 500 sectors. Vertical: 1-month spread vs the S&P 500. Horizontal: the longer, time-shifted window — the methodology explains the math.

MUB vs SPY: head-to-head returns

MUB (muni bond) and SPY (the S&P 500) side by side over every window Zensei tracks. The spread is the difference — positive means MUB won that window.

Window
MUB
SPY
Spread
1 week−0.6%−0.3%−0.3 pts
2 weeks−0.4%+2.8%−3.2 pts
1 month+0.1%+1.2%−1.1 pts
3 months+0.7%+9.5%−8.8 pts
6 months+0.9%+8.5%−7.6 pts
1 year+6.2%+21.4%−15.3 pts

Data as of 2026-07-13 · computed from daily adjusted closes · how we measure

The read

Muni Bond (MUB) is out of favor: it trails the S&P 500 on both rotation windows — 1.1 points behind over the past month and 7.5 points behind over the longer, time-shifted window. That is the lagging quadrant. Ranked by one-month spread, it currently stands #52 of the 115 groups Zensei tracks.

On the shorter tape, MUB's momentum is weakening: the intraday trend that carried the move is cooling across the shorter windows. MUB'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: laggards only become interesting when the recent window turns positive first — until then, the market is voting elsewhere.

Muni Bond vs the market — common questions

Is muni bond outperforming the S&P 500?

Right now, no: over the past month MUB has underperformed the S&P 500 by 1.1 points. This page updates daily, so the answer reflects current market data rather than a dated article.

What is MUB?

MUB is iShares National Muni Bond ETF, the fund Zensei uses to measure the muni bond group against the S&P 500 benchmark (SPY).

What quadrant is muni bond in right now?

As of the latest daily data, muni bond is in the lagging quadrant — trailing the S&P 500 on both windows. The quadrant rules are documented on the Zensei methodology page.

Related sectors

Track muni 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.