Dow, Nasdaq gains belie bearish market breadth

Although the Big 3 market indexes all suggest the stock market is rising, market internals suggest the market of stocks is actually falling, with smaller-capitalization stocks leading the way lower. The number of declining stocks is greater than advancers, by 1,637 to 1,422 on the NYSE and by 2,584 to 1,291 on the Nasdaq. In addition, volume in declining stocks represents 68.5% of total volume on the NYSE and 62.9% of total volume on the Nasdaq. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.19% is up 74 points, or 0.2%, with 19 of 30 components gaining ground in midday trading. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.32% is up 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.03% is edging up 0.1%. The Russell 2000 RUT, -1.31% index of small-cap stocks is moving more in line with market breadth, as it is shedding 0.6%.