Breadth Gets A Little Better

The market recently made a new closing high, but it has yet to really break out and attempt to make another big move higher.  The market's comeback in recent days has been accompanied by a nice increase in breadth.  Currently, 71% of companies in the S&P 500 are trading above their 50-day moving averages.  This is a healthy number, and it doesn't yet signal an overbought market that's due for a pullback either.

The Energy and Financial sectors are the only ones where less than 50% of stocks are trading above their 50-day moving averages.  If these sectors can rebound, the overall market will likely make a really nice move higher.  The bears, however, are interpreting the weakness in these two sectors as a sign that the overall market will soon follow suit.  Industrials, Health Care, Utilities, and Telecom currently have the highest percentage of stocks trading above their 50-days.