Percentage of Stocks Above 200-Day Moving Average

The percentage of stocks above the 200-day moving average is a breadth gauge that counts how many members of an index, most often the S&P 500, currently trade above their own 200-day average price. A reading of 60% means 60 of every 100 stocks sit above that long-term trend line. It measures participation in uptrends, not how far the index itself has climbed.

Analysts such as StockCharts’ David Keller treat 50% as the dividing line between a broadly constructive market and one carried by a minority of stocks. This guide explains how to read the gauge, how it pairs with its 50-day version, and the one thing the number cannot tell you: which industries are behind it.

What the Percentage of Stocks Above the 200-Day Moving Average Measures

The 200-day moving average is the average closing price of a stock over the last 200 trading days. Traders use it as a simple marker of long-term trend: a stock above the line is in a long-term uptrend by this test, and a stock below it is not. Market breadth is the study of how many stocks take part in a market move, and this gauge applies the trend test to every member of an index.

The output is a count of tickers, not a measure of price. An index can rise while the percentage falls, which means fewer stocks are doing the lifting.

A trader can use the reading as a first check on whether a rally has company before treating an index high as support for new long ideas.

How to Read the 50% Line

Keller keeps the interpretation simple. When more than half of S&P 500 stocks are above their 200-day average, conditions are reasonably good. When fewer than half are, the picture is probably less encouraging.

His January 2023 example shows how this works in practice. The indicator stayed above 50% through all of 2021, slipped below it in early 2022, and stalled at 50% when the S&P 500 tested its own 200-day average that August. It moved back above 50% in November 2022, during a broad advance off the October lows. When the index pulled back in December, the gauge held above 50%, which Keller read as a constructive sign.

Treat 50% as a backdrop filter rather than a trigger. A trader can lean toward more long ideas when the reading sits above 50% and rising, and toward more caution, or more attention to short candidates, when it sits below.

Why Traders Pair It With the 50-Day Version

The 50-day version of the gauge asks the same question over a shorter window, so it captures short-term participation. The 200-day version captures long-term participation. Keller plots both on one chart for this reason.

In the same January 2023 example, the 50-day version dipped to just under 50% on a Thursday and recovered to 63% the next day, while the 200-day version stayed above 50%. A reasonable reading is a short-term pullback inside a longer uptrend. When both versions sit below 50%, participation is narrow across both horizons.

Other breadth tools, such as those covered in the NYSE breadth and sentiment indicators, answer different questions, so this gauge works best as one input among several. A trader can use the 50-day line for the timing context of pullbacks and the 200-day line for the backdrop.

What Extreme Readings Say, and What They Do Not

High and low readings describe stretched conditions. They do not time a turn.

StockCharts’ Arthur Hill documented this in May 2013, when more than 90% of S&P 500 stocks were above their 200-day average, the highest level since May 2011. He called the reading extreme yet still bullish, and said a drop back below 80% would be the first sign of material weakening. The extreme itself carried no sell signal.

A trader can treat an extreme as a prompt to review position size and stop placement, not as a reason to reverse a view.

What the Gauge Hides: The Same 55% Can Mean Different Things

Every stock counts as one ticker. The gauge does not say where the stocks above the line sit.

Stocks in the same industry tend to move together, so one or two industries can push the percentage up or down on their own. A 55% reading might mean a few stocks above the line in nearly every industry, which is broad health. It might equally mean almost every stock in two large industries is above the line while the rest lag, which is a single industry’s rally. The number is identical in both cases.

Before relying on the reading, a trader can check how widely the strength is spread across industries.

From Count to Context: Ask Which Industries Hold the Strength

This is where the Market → Industry → Stock sequence earns its place. The gauge answers the market-level question of how many stocks are in uptrends. The industry-level question is which groups hold those stocks, and that decides whether a high reading helps a given idea.

Pairing the count with industry strength shows whether participation is broad or concentrated. ImGeld’s free Industry Heat Map is built for this step: it shows which industries hold the strength behind a breadth reading, so a long candidate comes from a strong industry and a short candidate from a weak one. A trader can read the gauge first, then check the industries before choosing stocks.

Key Takeaway

• The percentage of stocks above the 200-day moving average counts stocks in long-term uptrends, not index gains.
• Fifty percent is a common dividing line between broadly constructive and narrow conditions.
• Pair it with the 50-day version to separate short-term pullbacks from long-term weakness.
• Extremes describe stretched conditions, not timing, and the same reading can reflect broad or single-industry strength.

Conclusion

The percentage of stocks above the 200-day moving average is a fast, honest read on participation, and 50% is a useful line to watch. It is a count, not a map. The industry-first follow-through, asking which industries hold the stocks above their 200-day average, turns the number into context you can act on.

FAQ

What is a good percentage of stocks above the 200-day moving average?
Analysts such as David Keller treat readings above 50% as broadly constructive and readings below 50% as a weaker picture. Neither side is a guarantee, because the gauge describes participation and does not forecast prices.

How is the percentage of stocks above the 200-day moving average calculated?
Count the index members whose latest close is above their own 200-day moving average, divide by the total number of members, and multiply by 100. A reading of 62% means 62 of every 100 members are above the line.

What does it mean when fewer than 50% of stocks are above the 200-day average?
Fewer than half of the index’s members are in a long-term uptrend. The index can still hold up if a minority of large or concentrated stocks keep rising, which is why the gauge is a participation check.

Is a reading above 90% a sell signal?
No. In May 2013 StockCharts’ Arthur Hill described a reading above 90% as extreme but still bullish. Extremes show stretched conditions and do not say when they end.

What is the difference between the 50-day and 200-day versions?
The 50-day version tracks short-term participation and the 200-day version tracks long-term participation. Charting them together helps separate a short-term pullback from a long-term weakening.

Why can the same reading mean different things?
The gauge counts tickers without regard to industry. Stocks from one or two industries can lift or drag the number together, so 55% can reflect broad participation or one industry’s rally.