Impressive corporate earnings and job growth helped the S&P 500 deliver decent returns last month. And although the Federal Reserve’s decision to commence bond tapering and rising inflation could foster significant market volatility in the near term, we think it could be worth adding last month’s best-performing S&P 500 stocks—Tesla (NASDAQ:), NVIDIA (NVDA), Union Pacific (UNP), Enphase Energy (NASDAQ:), and Teradyne (NASDAQ:)—to one’s watchlist. Let’s examine these names.After witnessing one of the worst monthly performances in September (down 5%), the SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (SPY), which is widely seen as the best representation of the broader market, gained nearly 7% in October–highest one-month gain since November 2020–closing at a $459.25 all-time high. Factors like Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine’s approval for use in children aged 5 -12, impressive third-quarter earnings releases, declining jobless claims, and the possibility that President Biden’s infrastructure bill may become law have all helped SPY and other benchmark indexes to hit fresh highs in October.

The performance of major indexes could be aided by an expected rise in consumer spending in the lead up to the holidays. However, factors such as the continued spread of COVID-19 , rising inflation, supply chain logjams, and the Federal Reserve’s decision to taper its bond-buying program raise concerns over a potential market correction in the near term.

Tesla, Inc. (TSLA), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:), Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:), Enphase Energy, Inc. (ENPH), and Teradyne, Inc. (TER) were the best-performing S&P 500 stocks last month, so we think it could be wise to add them to one’s watchlist.

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