One trader might achieve soaring success using a tick chart while another hates reading tick charts and makes good money using candlestick charts. The ability to read forex charts is a how to read forex charts core skill for technical traders. Mastering OHLC data, chart patterns, and analysis techniques builds a strong foundation.
How to Read the Main Types of Forex Charts
For example, to find the average price for the week, you would add up the closing price for each day and then divide the sum by seven. These averages are helpful because they can help determine the support and resistance prices for a currency pair. The simple moving average (SMA) shows the average price of a currency pair over a certain period. As with any average, this is determined by adding up all of the prices and then dividing by the time period—pretty simple indeed. Because tick charts are transaction-based, rather than time-based, they might better illustrate the interest in a particular currency pair than it’s price history.
Start Your Days Smarter!
Oscillators work within certain ranges, like 0-100, to spot when prices are too high or too low. The Stochastic Oscillator finds potential reversals, and the RSI warns of exhausted momentum. Traders use these to enter the market at the best times. Before making investment decisions, you should seek out independent financial advisors to help you understand the risks.
With most free forex charting tools you can choose to display timeframes from as low as 1 minute all the way up to one month. If get more advanced charting software, you can view lower timeframes. Forex charts can be plotted for variety of currency pairs, from major pairs like EUR/USD and GBP/USD to minor pairs such as AUD/CAD and NZD/JPY. The most popular piece of terminology used by forex traders has got to be the humble ‘pip’. However, no matter your trading method, you’ll need to know how to read a forex chart – there’s no escaping it. Luckily, we created this detailed guide to help you get started.
Forex charts also tell you exchange rate levels the market previously reversed to the upside at and below which buyers tend to place bids. These are known as support levels, since the market finds support there when attempting to head lower. Even if you are new to forex trading, you are probably familiar with the pricing shown on these graphs. This is the exchange rate between two currencies, as simple as that.
- In this case, the oscillator shows the closing price relative to the high/low range over a set period of time.
- The forex market rewards those who keep learning and stay patient.
- In case you’re wondering, support refers to a downward trend slowing, while resistance refers to an upward trend slowing.
- If it’s not filled in, the closing price was higher than the opening.
These charts also have a parameter called a reversal, which is usually set at three boxes. This means at least a three-box move is required to switch the present column from using the X to using the O, or vice versa. Whenever a reversal occurs, the graph also progresses one column to the right. While you may get recommendations from your friends or colleagues, you should try all these charts until you find one that you feel works best.
How to Read Forex Charts in 2025: Types, Patterns & Pro Tips
Thus, what you may well be seeing here is a currency that is losing its strength, and the uptrend may have disappeared. Thus, these X and O marks are not made on the chart unless the price rises or falls enough to justify making a mark. From a traditional perspective, the bands are used to highlight potential oversold and overbought areas.
They turn raw data into visual trends, helping traders predict market behavior. A forex chart is a graphical representation of the price movement of a currency pair over time. It helps traders understand past trends, current price action, and potential future movements. Forex traders use four main types of forex charts to understand market trends. Each chart shows price data in a unique way, fitting different trading strategies.
The amount of time shown on the chart depends on the particular timeframe you select. Typically, forex pairs are quoted to four decimal places (0.0001). The ‘1’, four spaces after the 0, is what is referred to as a pip. It’s a dynamic, liquid marketplace with daily turnover predicted to be in excess of 5.3 trillion dollars.
How to Read Forex Charts Effectively
Forex charts are key because they show market behavior. Forex traders have developed several types of forex charts to help depict trading data. Key points include mastering support and resistance levels, and analyzing price action. Tools like moving averages and oscillators give valuable insights when used right. The candlestick chart is beginner-friendly and gives a complete view of market sentiment.
A forex timeframe defines the period over which each candle or bar on a chart is formed. The choice of timeframe is directly linked to a trader’s strategy. Point and figure charts are typically constructed on graph paper by using an X to fill a rising column of boxes and an O to fill a falling column of boxes. Each box represents a specified value that the exchange rate has to attain to justify marking an X or an O on the graph.
The best choice depends on the required level of detail and the trader’s analytical style. For a full comparison, review our guide to the Best Forex Chart Types. Many of them have colorful names like the hammer, doji, hanging man and shooting star. While bar charts can reveal long-term trends, the spreads on each bar may be more difficult to interpret. If you track just one price on a bar chart, you could generate a line chart that helps you gather insight into the performance of the stock. For example, if the candle’s body is short, but the wick is long, it could mean there was a lot of pressure in one direction but it was pushed back before close.
- Forex charts have important parts for analyzing market data.
- Learning how to read the main forex charts can give you a huge advantage when trading, especially when you’re a beginner forex trader.
- Fortunately, this one is pretty simple—OHLC stands for “Open, high, low, and close”, and this type of chart shows you all 4 major data points over a selected period.
- Although each type of chart is useful in its own right, candlestick charts are what experts most often study.
- SEC fillings and other documents provided by Quartr.© 2025 TradingView, Inc.
Stay updated with economic calendars to predict currency pair changes. Overtrading occurs when traders seek profits without a plan. Always stick to your strategy and only trade when it matches your analysis. As you get better, add real-time data to your analysis. The key is to turn patterns into strategies that work for you.
