The rally from the October lows through the end of March was enough to make any bull giddy, but April has brought a decidedly different market mood. Stocks have hit the pause button, and in many cases rewind.  While the S&P 500 was comfortably above its 50-day moving average (DMA) from early November through the end of March, it has been creeping towards that level all April, and as of Friday afternoon, it even dipped slightly below.

If the S&P 500 closes around these levels this afternoon, it will snap a streak of 109 trading days of closing above its 50-DMA. This streak, though impressive, wasn't record-breaking, but since 1953, only ten were longer, with the last exceeding it coming in 2011. (See chart below for historical context)

The chart below shows where each sector, the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Russell 2000 are trading relative to their 50-DMA now versus where they were trading on 3/28 when the S&P 500 last closed at a record high. Not surprisingly, every sector and index is less extended now. Nearly half of the eleven sectors have also broken below their 50 DMAs, while three others (Industrials, Materials, and Technology) are precariously close.While corrections, or what in this case has merely been a pullback, can be unsettling, they are a natural part of any market, even a bull market, environment.

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