It can also be helpful to look at the evolution of the percent of companies outperforming over different slices of time, in order to get a better sense of the direction of the momentum in a market. Overall, in the MSCI World, we note that the percent of companies outperforming over the 200, 100, and 50-day time periods has been relatively steady (50-55%)--however, that number dropped sharply over the last 20 days to as low as 45%.
In MSCI Europe, the proportion of companies outperforming over the long (200-day) run remains under 40%, indicating room for further expansion. However, in the medium-term (100 and 50-day time horizons), the percent of companies outperforming recently touched on historically high levels (60% or so) and appears to be weakening somewhat.
Meanwhile, in North America, the percent of equities outperforming has slipped from recent highs of 65% over the last 200 trading days, to just 46% on a 100-day time horizon and only 38% when we look at the 50-day.
Last we look at MSCI Pacific, where the percent of stocks outperforming has expanded from 54% to 73% to 75% over the respective 200, 100, and 50-day time periods. And, with more than half of the companies in the region outperforming in the near (20-day) term, we see once again how strong the move has been compared to the other regions (all in the 40 percent range).
