The S&P 500's bullish breadth may bode well for medium term if history is a guide

Jamie Chisholm, MarketWatch
March 18, 2025 at 12:00 AM UTC

SentimenTrader's Jason Goepfert observed a strong bullish breadth in the recent S&P 500 rally, with 90% of stocks advancing. Historical data shows mixed short-term results, but the market has trended higher over two-month periods in similar situations.

The S&P 500's rally of the last two sessions saw both days register 90% of stocks advancing, according to Jason Goepfert at SentimenTrader.

That's very good bullish breadth. But what's likely to come next?

Goepfert has run the numbers for the 17 tines this has happened before and created the table below.

Over the next week it was all but a toss-up as to whether the market gained or fell. Over 2 weeks it was positive 59% of the time, over a month it was up 71% and 2 months later on every occasion the market was higher.