The Nasdaq 100 is trading at a record high on Monday. Most stocks in it are still hovering below a key technical level.
The index rose 0.53% to 30,972 in Monday trading, above Friday's record close of 30,807.93. It is up 22.7% since the start of the year, while 55 of the index's 101 stocks are trading below their 50-day moving average.
So how can the tech-heavy index set records while most of its members are still trending lower?
Chart: Only 44% Of Nasdaq 100 Stocks Trade Above 50-Day Moving Average
A Record With Some Of The Weakest Breadth On File
Breadth measures how many stocks take part in a move. When breadth is strong, gains are spread across the index. When it is weak, a handful of large companies do the lifting.
Since 2015, the Nasdaq 100 has set 373 record closes with breadth data available. On those days, an average of 71.5% of members traded above their 50-day average.
Friday's record close came with only 43.56% of stocks above that line. It is still about 27 points below the norm for a record day.
Only one record close had weaker participation than Friday. On Sept. 10, 2025, the index hit a high with 41.58% of stocks above their 50-day average.
Record highs with fewer than half of the members in an uptrend did not happen at all before 2024.
Cap-Weighted QQQ Pulls Away From Its Equal-Weight Twin
The gap shows up clearly in the two main exchange-traded funds that track the index.
- The Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 (QQQ) weights companies by market value, so the largest names drive most of its return.
- The Direxion NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Shares (QQQE) weights every company equally.
Since the end of July, QQQ has outperformed QQQE by 8%. QQQ trades at $753.72 on Monday, while QQQE trades at $121.84.
The ratio between the two funds measures how concentrated the index's gains are. When it rises, the largest stocks are beating the average one.
That ratio now stands at 6.19. It is just 2% below its all-time high of 6.33, set on May 14, 2026.
