Dow's Rise On Back Of Apple Belies Bad Stock Market Breadth

The Dow Jones Industrial Average's is rallying toward a sixth straight record close, but the stock market's internal readings are painting a very different, negative picture. The number of declining stocks is outnumbering advancers by a 1,832-to-966 margin on the NYSE and by a 2,005-to-610 score on the Nasdaq exchange. Volume in declining stocks represents 67% of total volume on the NYSE and 74% of Nasdaq volume. Meanwhile, the Dow is up 20 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 is down 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite is shedding 0.4%. Despite the Dow's gain, only 12 of 30 components are gaining ground. Apple Inc. by itself is keeping the blue-chip barometer afloat. If the stock was flat, rather than up $7.74, or 5.2%, in the wake of better-than-expected second-quarter results, the Dow would be down 33 points.