The S&P 500 (^GSPC) hit another record high on Wednesday, the 34th this year. Market history buffs will enjoy this nugget: The S&P 500 has hit 1,020 new closing highs since 1928, according to S&P Capital IQ’s senior index analyst Howard Silverblatt.
If there is cause for concern it comes by way of these tidbits: On Wednesday, fewer than 12% of S&P 500 members made new 52-week highs. On the ETF front, 111 made new 52-week highs, not a great percentage from a universe of about 1,500.
There are some reasons to be encouraged though, one being the S&P 500 is not overbought at the moment.
“After trading sideways since the end of October, the S&P 500 staged another breakout to new all-time highs today. As shown in our trading range chart below, the index never managed to pull below overbought territory (>1 standard deviation above its 50-DMA) over the last two weeks. Instead, the index’s moving averages played catch-up, so even though it’s higher than it was when it last hit an all-time high, the S&P is less overbought now than it was then,” according to Bespoke Investment Group.
Silverblatt notes “breadth is near a modern day record; YTD 446 are up and 52 are down, with 221 up 30%, 134 up 40%, and 79 up at least 50%.” [Market Breadth Improves]
As the chart below indicates, market breadth is strong.
Chart Courtesy: S&P Capital IQ. Click to enlarge.
At the sector level, there were four breakouts Wednesday: Technology, Industrials, Consumer Discretionary and Health Care, according to Bespoke. Money has been pouring into industrial and tech ETFs over the past few weeks, health care funds have been strong all year and discretionary and industrial ETFs are currently in seasonal sweet spots.
Other sector ETFs also have something to say and it is worth listening to. More than 30 sector funds made new 52-week highs on Wednesday and when excluding leveraged plays and funds that are brand new, the number is still a tidy 29.
Nine, or nearly a third, were health care sector funds or industry plays on pharmaceuticals. The list includes the SPDR Health Care Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLV), the PowerShares Dynamic Pharmaceuticals Portfolio (NYSEArca: PJP) and the First Trust Health Care AlphaDEX Fund (NYSEArca: FXH). [Sector ETFs Still Flourishing]
Health Care ETFs Soaring in Q4
