An open-high-low-close chart (also OHLC) is a type of
chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
typically used to illustrate movements in the price of a
financial instrument
Financial instruments are monetary contracts between parties. They can be created, traded, modified and settled. They can be cash (currency), evidence of an ownership interest in an entity or a contractual right to receive or deliver in the form ...
over time. Each vertical line on the chart shows the price range (the highest and lowest prices) over one unit of time, e.g., one day or one hour.
Tick marks project from each side of the line indicating the opening price (e.g., for a daily bar chart this would be the starting price for that day) on the left, and the closing price for that time period on the right. The bars may be shown in different hues depending on whether prices rose or fell in that period.
The
Japanese candlestick chart
A candlestick chart (also called Japanese candlestick chart or K-line) is a style of financial chart used to describe price movements of a security, derivative, or currency.
It is similar to a bar chart in that each candlestick represents all f ...
and OHLC charts show exactly the same data, i.e., the opening, high, low, and closing prices during a particular time frame.
[Rockefeller, Barbara (Feb. 6 2014). ''Technical Analysis for Dummies'', 3rd Edition. Wiley Publishing, Inc.] Day traders, who by default have to watch the price movements on a chart, prefer to use the Japanese candlesticks, because they show the "live action" price movements by expanding and contracting the candlestick's body, which is easier to grasp (and trade upon) than the standard OHLC bar. Therefore, for dynamic real-time chart analysis, Japanese candlesticks offer advantages over standard OHLC bars.
However, for
technical analysis
In finance, technical analysis is an analysis methodology for analysing and forecasting the direction of prices through the study of past market data, primarily price and volume. Behavioral economics and quantitative analysis use many of the sam ...
of static charts, such as after-market analysis of historical data, the OHLC bars have very clear advantages over the Japanese candlesticks: the OHLC bars do not require color or fill pattern to show the Open and Close levels, and they do not create confusion in cases when, for example, the Open price is lower than the Close price (a bullish sign), but the Close price for the studied bar is lower than the Close price for the previous bar, i.e. the bar to the left on the same chart (a bearish sign).
A simple variant on the OHLC chart is the HLC high-low-close chart that identifies the range of the time unit's price action (high - low) and the end result of the time unit's price action (the close).
In technical analysis OHLC charts are often combined with charts of other types such as
line chart
A line chart or line graph or curve chart is a type of chart which displays information as a series of data points called 'markers' connected by straight line segments. It is a basic type of chart common in many fields. It is similar to a s ...
s (showing
moving average
In statistics, a moving average (rolling average or running average) is a calculation to analyze data points by creating a series of averages of different subsets of the full data set. It is also called a moving mean (MM) or rolling mean and is ...
),
column chart
A bar chart or bar graph is a chart or graph that presents categorical data with rectangular bars with heights or lengths proportional to the values that they represent. The bars can be plotted vertically or horizontally. A vertical bar chart i ...
s (
trading volume In capital markets, volume, or trading volume, is the amount (total number) of a security (or a given set of securities, or an entire market) that was traded during a given period of time. In the context of a single stock trading on a stock exchang ...
), and range areas (
Bollinger Bands).
Open High Low Close (OHLC) Chart, AnyChart JavaScript Chart Documentation
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References
External links
Video describing the parts of the OHLC chart, determining uptrends/downtrends and reversals. Sources cited
Other Languages
Visit the main overall explanation for Technical analysis
In finance, technical analysis is an analysis methodology for analysing and forecasting the direction of prices through the study of past market data, primarily price and volume. Behavioral economics and quantitative analysis use many of the sam ...
that is translated into many languages.
Financial charts
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