Tensions in the Middle East caused equities to experience a sell-off last Friday, and while markets opened lower to start the new trading week this morning, the bulls managed to take charge by day’s end with gains across all of the major indices.  Below is a snapshot of the percentage of stocks above their 50-day moving averages in the S&P 500 by sector.  We’ve included one-year charts of this reading for each sector as well.

In the broad S&P 500, 72.3% of stocks remain above their 50-day moving averages, which is a very healthy reading.  Communication Services has the strongest breadth right now with 92.3% of stocks above their 50-DMAs.  Another four sectors have readings of 80% or higher — Utilities, Energy, Health Care, and Technology.  On the flip side, Materials has the weakest breadth with just 35.7% of stocks above their 50-DMAs.  At the end of 2019, this reading stood at 85.7% for Materials, so the sector has seen a steep drop to start 2020.  Real Estate, Consumer Discretionary, and Financials are the remaining sectors with breadth readings below the overall reading of 72.3% for the S&P 500.  Start a two-week free trial to Bespoke Institutional to access our Morning Lineup and Closer which includes our Daily Sector Snapshot.  Our Daily Sector Snapshot includes the charts below along with a number of other technical, fundamental, and relative strength indicators for the eleven major S&P 500 sectors.