Market breadth: New highs and lows

What are New highs and lows metrics?

New highs and lows metrics are market breadth indicators. They count how many stocks in a group are trading at their highest or lowest price over a given period, such as one week, one month, three months, or one year.

A stock that reaches a new high is showing strength: buyers are willing to pay more than at any point in that period. A stock that reaches a new low is showing weakness. By counting these stocks across a whole market, you can see whether strength or weakness is spreading or shrinking, instead of relying only on the index level.

These metrics are calculated for two kinds of stock groups:

• Indices: all constituents of an index, such as the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq 100.
• Countries: all stocks listed in a given country's market.

In the formulas below, constituents means every stock in the selected index or country.

Why they matter to investors?

• They measure the health of a trend. In a healthy uptrend, many stocks keep making new highs. If the index keeps rising while fewer stocks reach new highs, the rally is narrowing and may be losing strength.
• They show momentum across time frames. Short periods (1 week, 1 month) capture recent momentum. Long periods (3 months, 1 year) show more significant, longer-lasting moves. Comparing them helps separate short-term noise from a real change in trend.
• They help spot turning points. A rising number of new lows while the index is still near its peak can warn of a coming decline. A shrinking number of new lows during a sell-off can signal that selling pressure is fading.
• They allow comparisons across markets. The Net highs (%) metrics are expressed as a percentage of all constituents, so you can compare indices or countries of any size.

Fields and formulas:

Each metric compares a stock's current price with its price range over a lookback period: 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 1 year.

The following terms are used in the formulas:

• Current High: the highest price of the stock in the current trading session.
• Current Low: the lowest price of the stock in the current trading session.
• High over a period: the highest price of the stock over the lookback period 1W / 1M / 3M / 1Y.
• Low over a period: the lowest price of the stock over the lookback period 1W / 1M / 3M / 1Y.

The list of metrics:

• New highs (1W, 1M, 3M, 1Y) = number of stocks where Current High ≥ High over a period
• New lows (1W, 1M, 3M, 1Y) = number of stocks where Current Low ≤ Low over a period
• Net highs (%) (1W, 1M, 3M, 1Y) = (New highs over a period − New lows over a period) / number of constituents × 100