Summary
Equities Breadth shows how many eligible equities are advancing, declining, or unchanged over the selected comparison period.
Rather than focusing only on an index or a small number of large companies, it describes how widely a market move is being shared across individual equities.
Why it matters
Breadth can help investors assess the level of participation behind a market rise or fall. A rising market with many advancing equities may indicate broad participation, while a rising market with relatively few advancers may suggest that gains are concentrated in a smaller group.
The same principle applies to falling markets: widespread declines can indicate broader weakness than a fall driven by only a few securities.
How it is calculated
An equity is generally classified as advancing when its current or latest eligible price is above the relevant reference price, declining when it is below that reference price, and unchanged when the two prices are equal.
The reference price may depend on the selected period or market view, such as the previous close or another displayed comparison point.
How to read it
Compare the number or proportion of advancing equities with the number declining. A clear majority of advancers suggests positive breadth, while a clear majority of decliners suggests negative breadth.
Unchanged equities may indicate limited price movement, but they can also reflect infrequent trading or price precision. Breadth should therefore be considered together with traded value, volume, and index performance.
Things to keep in mind
The result depends on the equity universe, filters, comparison period, and data availability. Suspended securities or equities without an eligible current and reference price may be excluded.
Breadth counts each included equity as one observation and does not normally show the relative size or market capitalization of each company.