Tuesday’s close marked the ninth and sixth consecutive days that the Nasdaq-100 ([NDX]) and Nasdaq Composite ([NASD]) were positive.
Monday’s (9/15) close marked the ninth and sixth consecutive days that the Nasdaq-100 (NDX) and Nasdaq Composite (NASD) were positive. Intraday action saw both indices climb to new all-time chart highs with NDX rallying to 24200 and NASD rallying to 22200. This stretch of positive action for both indices is rare territory as NASD has had a streak of 6 positive trading days in 3.7% of all trading since 1972. Meanwhile, NDX’s streak of 9 positive trading days has occurred just 0.55% of all trading days since 1992. For reference, NASD and NDX have been positive 55% and 54% of all trading days historically, and the longest stretch of positive trading days for NDX and NASD reside at 14 (July 2013) and 19 (August 1979) days, respectively.
NASD has seen three other six day stretches of positive action in 2025 with the Index rally 4.96% on average, so this recent rally of 2.99% (9/5/25 – 9/15/25) is muted comparatively. But while there have been other six day stretches of positive action for NASD, investors have not witnessed a seven-day streak since August 2024.
For NDX, it has been since late 2023 when investors last saw the Index go on such a stretch of positive days. Back then, NDX rallied 8.5% over the nine-day period (10/26/2023 – 11/8/2023), which is roughly 4% higher than the current rally for the index (4.57% from 9/2/2025 – 9/15/2025). While intraday action Wednesday has NDX hovering between positive and negative, a positive close would mark a 10th consecutive day for the first time since late 2021.
While both indices have rallied to new highs, action within certain indicators for the NASD (OTC) and NDX universes present differing pictures under the hood.
While the BP for NDX (^BPNDX) resides in Xs at 54%, this is below levels north of 70% witnessed during the summer months, suggesting that less stocks are helping push the index to its recent highs. Meanwhile, the BP for the Nasdaq Composite (OTC universe) (^BPOTC) moved to its highest level in just shy of four years back in July. The OTC BP did reverse into Os on the chart during August’s trading but saw its value return to near its July high mark with recent action. With a comparative decrease in participation in NDX, while NASD has seen a continued increase as of late it is an indication of broadened participation outside of the largest names. Said differently, recent positive action for the indices has been helped by smaller cap stocks rallying and improving their technical pictures.
Confirmation of this can also be seen on the RS in Xs indicators for NASD (OTC) (^RSXOTC) and NDX (^RSXNDX), which measures the percent of stocks maintaining positive near-term market relative strength (RS). While both charts reversed into Os in August, the RSXOTC has increased in reading and resides within one box of reversing back into Xs. The potential reversal into Xs would match the charts’ two-year high mark and would suggest more than half of the stocks within NASD maintain positive near-term market RS. After reversing down in Os in August the RS in Xs indicator for NDX has continued lower to 42%, matching its February 2025 low mark. The long-short of the story here is like the above, as NASD has witnessed an increase in stocks showing positive near-term relative strength, while NDX has seen a decrease.
While long-term relative strength still favors the large to mega cap names within the indices, near-term trend and relative strength have improved for smaller cap names. This is noteworthy for momentum-based strategies as the ability to differentiate from the largest names within the indices can offer opportunity for outperformance.
