TSP funds at the close

Every TSP fund finished higher on Monday, October 20, 2025, and the stock funds did most of the work.

The S Fund was the standout at +1.53% to $101.4163. The C Fund gained 1.07% to $107.4838, and the I Fund added 0.87% to $53.6713. The F Fund rose 0.14% to $20.9177, and the G Fund edged up 0.04% to $19.4269.

Two stock funds cleared the 1% mark, and so did several L Funds (more below). Nothing fell.

Why the funds line up with their benchmarks

Each fund follows an index, so the daily moves are mostly a matter of what that index did.

The C Fund tracks the S&P 500, which rose 1.07%. The C Fund's gain matched it exactly. The S Fund follows the Dow Jones U.S. Completion index, which covers mid-size and smaller companies outside the S&P 500. Its 1.53% gain says those names outran the large caps on the day.

The I Fund tracks the MSCI ACWI ex-US ex-China index. Its 0.87% gain was solid but trailed the U.S. funds. The F Fund follows the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate bond index and rose a modest 0.14%. The G Fund holds special-issue Treasury securities and pays a set rate, so it barely moves from day to day.

L Funds

The L Funds blend the G, F, C, S and I funds, so their daily results depend on how much each one holds in stocks. L 2055 through L 2075 gained 1.05%, with matching five-day returns of 3.09%. L 2050 rose 0.88%, L 2040 rose 0.78%, and L 2030 rose 0.64%. L Income, the most conservative mix, gained 0.32%.

One data point looks odd. L 2075 shows a year-to-date return of 8.71%, while L 2070 shows 19.53% and the funds around it sit near 19.5%. I can't explain that gap from the numbers I have, so check the figure at tsp.gov before reading much into it.

What moved IRA index funds and ETFs

The index and ETF figures I have are labeled as the prior session close. They line up closely with the TSP moves, so they appear to reflect the same stretch of trading.

Stocks rose across the board. The S&P 500 gained 1.07% to 6,735.13. The Dow added 1.12% to 46,706.58, and the Nasdaq Composite led the major indexes at +1.37% to 22,990.54. Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) rose 1.11% to $330.95. Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS) gained 0.98% to $74.93.

Bonds were quieter. Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) rose 0.13% to $74.98. The 10-year Treasury yield slipped 0.52% to 3.986%, a drop of about two hundredths of a percentage point. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions, which fits BND's small gain.

The data doesn't say why stocks rose, and I won't guess at a headline.

The bigger picture

Over the past five days the I Fund gained 3.48%, the S Fund 3.37%, and the C Fund 2.8%. Year to date, the I Fund leads at 28.0%, followed by the C Fund at 15.92% and the S Fund at 12.19%. The F Fund is up 7.37% and the G Fund 3.56%.

What it means for your plan

A strong Monday is pleasant, but one day rarely matters for a long-term plan. A 1% gain in the C Fund is the kind of move that can reverse by Wednesday. What counts is your allocation, your contribution rate, and how long you have until you need the money.

If your account holds a mix of stock and bond funds, today's results showed how that mix behaves. The stock-heavy options rose the most, and the stable options barely moved. That is how they are built to work. This is a recap of what happened, not personal advice, so match any decisions to your own goals and timeline.