Short-Term Bonds vs the S&P 500 (NEAR): is it outperforming?
Over the past month, NEAR has underperformed the S&P 500 by 3.4 points. Here is where that puts it in the market rotation — updated daily.
Where NEAR sits on the rotation map
Short-Term Bonds 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.
NEAR vs SPY: head-to-head returns
NEAR (short-term bonds) and SPY (the S&P 500) side by side over every window Zensei tracks. The spread is the difference — positive means NEAR won that window.
Data as of 2026-08-28 · computed from daily adjusted closes · how we measure
The read
Short-Term Bonds (NEAR) is losing its lead. It built a 1.9-point advantage over the S&P 500 across the longer, time-shifted window, but over the past month it has slipped 3.4 points behind the market — the Cooling quadrant of the rotation map. Ranked by one-month spread, it currently stands #76 of the 115 groups Zensei tracks.
On the shorter tape, NEAR's momentum is weakening: the intraday trend that carried the move is cooling across the shorter windows. NEAR'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 whether this is a pause or a handoff: cooling groups sometimes reset and reclaim leadership, but a deepening one-month deficit usually means rotation has moved on.
Short-Term Bonds vs the market — common questions
Is short-term bonds outperforming the S&P 500?
Right now, no: over the past month NEAR has underperformed the S&P 500 by 3.4 points. This page updates daily, so the answer reflects current market data rather than a dated article.
What is NEAR?
NEAR is iShares Short Duration Bond ETF, the fund Zensei uses to measure the short-term bonds group against the S&P 500 benchmark (SPY).
What quadrant is short-term bonds in right now?
As of the latest daily data, short-term bonds is in the Cooling quadrant — still ahead over the longer window, but behind the market over the past month. The quadrant rules are documented on the Zensei methodology page.
Related sectors
Track short-term bonds 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.