The disparity index measures the relative position of an asset's most recent closing price to a selected moving average and reports the value as a percentage.
A value greater than zero—a positive percentage—shows that the price is rising, suggesting that the asset is gaining upward momentum. Conversely, a value less than zero—a negative percentage—can be interpreted as a sign that selling pressure is increasing, forcing the price to drop. A value of zero means that the asset’s current price is exactly consistent with its moving average.
The disparity index is a momentum indicator that indicates the direction an asset is moving relative to a moving average. Large moves in either direction for the index may foreshadow that a price correction is ahead, i.e., whether the asset is overbought or oversold.