Chapters in Technical Analysis & Trading Tools
Chapter 8 of 10 · 4 min read
Market breadth and momentum
How many stocks are really participating, and why the index can lie.
Breadth measures participation: advancing versus declining stocks, stocks above their moving averages, and new highs versus new lows. A rally on narrowing breadth, carried by a few heavyweights, is more fragile than a broad one.
Reading it
- Index up, advance/decline falling: narrow, weaker rally.
- Broad advance with many 52-week highs: healthy trend.
- Washed-out breadth after a fall can mark exhaustion.
Key takeaways
- Breadth shows the health beneath the headline.
- Divergence between index and breadth is a warning.
- Combine with volume and trend.
Put it into practice
Open the live page on Market Intelligence and see this concept on real data.
Keep learning
- Indices: Sensex, Nifty and what they track · Market Foundations
Education only, not investment advice. Updated 2026-10-09.