S&P 500 market breadth: 58% of stocks above the 200-day average
Market breadth shows how many stocks are taking part in a move. On 23 Oct 2026, 58% of S&P 500 stocks (290 of 499) closed above their 200-day moving average, 59% above the 50-day and 70% above the 20-day. 18 stocks closed at a 52-week high and 10 at a 52-week low; 138 rose and 360 fell. The charts and tables are recalculated after every US close. Educational, not advice.
Share of stocks above their 50-day and 200-day average
Today's reading of 58% is higher than 24% of the trading days since 26 Oct 2023; in that period it ranged from 18% to 87%. It was last below 20% on 8 Apr 2025 and last above 80% on 18 Oct 2024. History uses the stocks in the index today, so earlier years describe those stocks and carry survivorship bias; from now on each day is stored as it happens.
New 52-week highs and lows, last 12 months
A stock counts as a new high when its adjusted close is the highest of the last 252 trading days, and as a new low when it is the lowest. Counts above 50 on either side are rare in this window.
Advance-decline line, three years
The line adds up, day by day, the number of stocks that rose minus the number that fell, starting from zero on 26 Oct 2023. It rises when more stocks advance than decline. When the S&P 500 index makes a new high but this line does not, the rise is coming from fewer stocks.
Breadth by sector
| Sector | Stocks | Above 200-day | Above 50-day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Care | 60 | 88% | 85% |
| Energy | 21 | 81% | 86% |
| Financials | 76 | 68% | 50% |
| Consumer Staples | 34 | 68% | 76% |
| Information Technology | 75 | 63% | 49% |
| Materials | 24 | 63% | 67% |
| Real Estate | 30 | 47% | 50% |
| Utilities | 31 | 42% | 77% |
| Industrials | 83 | 40% | 48% |
| Consumer Discretionary | 47 | 36% | 51% |
| Communication Services | 18 | 33% | 22% |
Share of each sector's S&P 500 stocks that closed above their moving average on 23 Oct 2026. The 5-day change compares the 200-day share with 16 Oct 2026. Click a sector for its stocks ranked by X-Ray Score.
Momentum snapshot: stocks showing each signal today
| Signal | Stocks | List |
|---|---|---|
| RSI below 30 (oversold) | 19 | See the stocks → |
| RSI above 70 (overbought) | 50 | Open the scanner → |
| Golden cross, last 10 days | 11 | See the stocks → |
| Death cross, last 10 days | 29 | See the stocks → |
| MACD bullish cross, last 5 days | 45 | See the stocks → |
| 52-week closing high on above-average volume | 13 | See the stocks → |
| Bollinger squeeze | 43 | See the stocks → |
| Volume at least twice the 20-day average | 10 | See the stocks → |
Counts of the 495 S&P 500 stocks in the stock scanner as of 23 Oct 2026, using the scanner's own definitions. The overbought count uses a custom RSI filter in the scanner.
How to read market breadth
The index level tells you what the largest companies did; breadth tells you how many stocks went along. A market where most stocks sit above their 200-day average and new highs outnumber new lows is broad. A market where the index rises while the share of stocks above their averages falls is narrow, which means a few stocks are doing the work.
People watch the share above the 200-day average for the long-term trend, the 50-day for the medium term and the 20-day for the short term. Extremes are rare: in the 751 trading days charted here, the 200-day share ranged from 18% to 87%. These are descriptions of the present, not signals: readings can stay at an extreme for weeks. For individual stocks see the stock scanner, for sectors the sector ETF comparison, and for the economy behind the market the leading economic indicators.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of S&P 500 stocks are above their 200-day moving average?
58% (290 of 499) closed above their 200-day moving average on 23 Oct 2026. For the 50-day average the share was 59% (293 of 499) and for the 20-day average 70% (347 of 499). A week earlier, on 16 Oct 2026, the 200-day share was 54% and the 50-day share 46%.
What is market breadth?
Market breadth counts how many stocks take part in a market move. The S&P 500 index is weighted by company size, so a few very large companies can lift it while most stocks fall. Breadth measures such as the share of stocks above a moving average, the number of new 52-week highs against lows, and advancing against declining stocks show whether a rise or fall is broad or narrow.
How many S&P 500 stocks hit a 52-week high or low today?
On 23 Oct 2026, 18 S&P 500 stocks closed at a 52-week closing high and 10 at a 52-week closing low. 138 stocks rose, 360 fell and 1 were unchanged.
How does today's reading compare with the past three years?
Today's 200-day reading of 58% is higher than 24% of the trading days since 26 Oct 2023. In that period the share ranged from 18% to 87%. It was last below 20% on 8 Apr 2025 and last above 80% on 18 Oct 2024. The history uses the stocks in the index today, so it is a description of those stocks, not of the index as it was then.
Which sectors have the most and the fewest stocks above their 200-day average?
Highest share above the 200-day average: Health Care (88%), Energy (81%), Financials (68%). Lowest: Communication Services (33%), Consumer Discretionary (36%), Industrials (40%). The table below lists all 11 sectors with their 50-day share, new highs and lows.
Do high or low readings predict what the market does next?
No. Analysts often call a share above 80% stretched and below 20% washed out, and the chart shows how rarely the extremes occur, but a reading can stay extreme for weeks and the market can move either way afterwards. This page reports where the market stands today, not where it is going, and is not advice to buy or sell.
How is this calculated and how often is it updated?
After every US trading day we take the closing prices of the stocks in the S&P 500 today, adjusted for splits and dividends, and count how many closed above their 20, 50 and 200-day simple moving averages, at the highest or lowest close of the last 252 trading days, and up or down on the day. A day is kept only if at least 80% of the stocks have a price. The momentum counts at the bottom come from the same daily data as the stock scanner.
Related
Educational information, not financial advice. Counts are calculated by StocksXray from end-of-day prices of the stocks in the S&P 500 today. Past readings do not predict future market moves.