How to read NIFTY breadth

1. Compare breadth with the index

Start with direction. Is NIFTY up or down from yesterday's close, and is breadth above or below zero? When both point the same way, the move is broad. When they point in opposite directions, the index is being carried by a few large stocks.

2. Watch the turns, not single readings

One minute's breadth number is noisy. What matters more is the shape through the session: is breadth climbing, fading, or turning around? A turn in breadth is the crowd changing its mind, often before it is obvious in the index.

3. Notice when the index and breadth disagree

A rising index with falling breadth is a thin move: it depends on a few heavyweights continuing to rise. A falling index with rising breadth means most stocks are holding up while a few large names pull the index down. Neither tells you what happens next, but both tell you the move is narrower than it looks.

4. Put it in context with the market score

AnkBodh blends breadth with its engine reading of the wider market into one market score from −100 to +100, sorted into five plain labels:

• +50 and above: strong bullish
• +20 to +49: bullish
• −19 to +19: balanced
• −20 to −49: bearish
• −50 and below: strong bearish

Common mistakes

• Treating a single reading as a signal instead of watching how it changes.
• Ignoring a disagreement between the index and breadth because the index looks strong.
• Using breadth as a buy or sell trigger. It describes the market; it does not predict it.

The same idea for SENSEX and BANKNIFTY

Everything here applies to SENSEX, BANKNIFTY and MIDCAP too: compare each index with the breadth of the stocks behind it, watch the turns, and notice the disagreements.