One of the scoring criteria is the number of cards as a percent of total cards that report a balance at the time of scoring.
You definately want less than half reporting any balance... and the lower the percent with balance, apparently the better. However, most seem to have found that having at least one card report a balance, and having that balance between 1-9%, is the ideal.
Having an increased number of cards reporting enables you to reduce the % of balance a bit easier, as the denominator gets bigger. However, while FICO looks at your report anew with each scoring, the reported balance on an account only changes once a month, after the credtior reports to the CRA. So make sure getting to $0 balance occurs just before the report to the CRA, which is usually just after their normal billing date.
Just out of curiosity, are these "new cards" recently opened? If so, their addition may have had a secondary impact of reducing your average age of accounts, thus offsetting gains made by increased CL and reduced % cards reporting a balance.
