Stock market indexes decline, but market internals show gains

Don't read a market by its cover, as Wednesday's decline in the major market index's belied positive market internal reading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index were both down 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was shedding 0.4%, in midday trade. But the number of advancing stocks outnumbered declining stocks by about a 15 to 14 score on the NYSE and a 13 to 11 margin on the Nasdaq exchange. Separately, the NYSE's Arms Index, which is volume-weighted measure of market breadth, dipped below 0.5, which usually only occurs during broad and sharp market rallies. The last two times the NYSE's Arms Index closed below 0.50 was Feb. 22, when the S&P 500 shot up 1.4%, and Dec. 23, when the S&P 500 climbed 1.2%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.