After two strong sessions earlier this week, market breadth slipped back into negative territory, highlighting ongoing indecision and short-term volatility beneath the surface.
Major tech-heavy indices edged lower from record highs by midday Friday in New York, as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of the Trump-Putin meeting and after data showed a dip in consumer confidence alongside mounting inflation concerns.
After back‑to‑back broad advances on Aug 12–13, breadth flipped red on Aug 14 as 71% of issues declined. Despite the single‑day setback, the weekly and monthly composites remain firmly positive and more than half of stocks still sit above their key moving averages. Net‑net: a pause inside an improving intermediate trend.
Wall Street struggled to extend record highs on Thursday, as investors opted to lock in profits and adopt a more cautious stance after U.S. producer inflation posted its largest increase in three years.
After Tuesday’s powerful upside breadth, Wednesday delivered follow‑through. Participation expanded across most time frames, more stocks reclaimed key moving averages, and new highs widened while new lows stayed muted. Short‑term conditions are getting hot, but the trend tone improved.
Tech-heavy indices were little moved on Wednesday, while small caps and blue chips surged as investors rotated into lagging names, signaling a broadening market rally.
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has reported a rise in small business optimism in July, despite concerns about tariffs and inflation.
U.S. market breadth surged on August 12, 2025, reversing the broad weakness seen on August 11. Gains were supported by strong advancing volume, widespread participation across moving average measures, and improving new highs.
Wall Street is in full rally mode after July’s inflation data eased fears that tariff-related cost pressures were widespread. The headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) came in below expectations, holding steady at 2.7% year-over-year and fueling speculation of upcoming interest rate cuts.
After showing resilience late last week, U.S. market breadth softened on August 11, with declining stocks outnumbering advancers and several short-term momentum indicators losing ground.
U.S. market breadth showed little change on Friday, with advancing and declining issues nearly balanced. Short-term momentum indicators remained moderate, while longer-term breadth metrics were stable. The data points to a market still searching for direction after a volatile start to August.
