Every chart you've ever seen is built on OHLCV — Open, High, Low, Close, Volume. 5 numbers per time period. Master reading these and you have the foundation for every technical analysis decision. This guide walks through how.
What OHLCV means
- Open (O): First traded price in the period
- High (H): Highest price in the period
- Low (L): Lowest price in the period
- Close (C): Last traded price in the period
- Volume (V): Total shares traded in the period
Step 1 — Identify timeframe
| Timeframe | Use case |
|---|---|
| 1-minute | Scalping (high-frequency intraday) |
| 5-minute | Intraday trading |
| 15-minute | Intraday + early swing entries |
| Hourly | Multi-day swing |
| Daily | Swing + position trading (most useful) |
| Weekly | Long-term position + investment |
| Monthly | Multi-year position |
For most retail: daily for primary analysis, weekly for trend context, 1-hour for entry timing if intraday-active.
Step 2 — Read individual candle
Body
The thick rectangle = range from Open to Close.
- Green / hollow body: Close > Open. Bulls won the period.
- Red / filled body: Close < Open. Bears won.
Wicks (shadows)
- Upper wick: Distance from body top to High. Shows rejection at the top.
- Lower wick: Distance from body bottom to Low. Shows buying at the bottom.
What candle anatomy tells you
- Long body + small wicks: Strong directional move. Trend day.
- Small body + long wicks: Indecision. Both sides fought.
- Long lower wick + small body: Buyers stepped in at lows. Often reversal signal.
- Long upper wick + small body: Sellers stepped in at highs. Often reversal signal.
Step 3 — Volume below price
Volume bar height at each candle = shares traded in that period.
- High volume + price up: Strong demand. Bullish.
- High volume + price down: Strong selling. Bearish.
- Low volume + price up: Weak rally. Suspect.
- Low volume + price down: Weak decline. Often reversal candidate.
Rule: Price moves on high volume are more reliable than price moves on low volume.
Step 4 — Multi-candle patterns
Sequences tell stories. See candlestick patterns guide for the 10 that work on Indian markets:
- Hammer / Hanging Man
- Doji
- Engulfing (bullish/bearish)
- Morning Star / Evening Star
- Three White Soldiers / Black Crows
Step 5 — Context is everything
Single candles + single volume bars rarely actionable alone. ALWAYS combine with:
- Trend direction: Price vs 200-DMA. Above = bull regime. Below = bear regime.
- Key levels: Support / resistance from prior swings. Candles at levels matter more than mid-range.
- Volume relative to average: Spike volume = high conviction.
- Indicator confluence: RSI, MACD agreement with price action.
The OHLCV reading checklist
- What timeframe am I looking at?
- What's the trend (200-DMA direction)?
- Where is price relative to key levels?
- What does today's candle anatomy say (body size, wick lengths)?
- Is volume above/below 20-day average?
- Does the multi-candle pattern (last 3-5 candles) tell a coherent story?
- Do other indicators (RSI, MACD) agree?
Common mistakes
- Reading 1-minute candles like they matter. They're mostly noise.
- Ignoring volume. Price moves on no volume = no participation = unreliable.
- Acting on single-candle signals. Need 2-3 candle confirmation usually.
- Forgetting timeframe context. Bullish daily candle in a bearish weekly trend = often fades.
Once OHLCV reading clicks, every other technical concept (moving averages, RSI, MACD, Bollinger) becomes natural. They're all just summaries of OHLCV data. Master the foundation first.
Practice on the SensexIQ stock detail pages — every /stock/[symbol] has candlestick chart with daily OHLCV. Cross-reference with the Active Signals + Technical Scorecard for context.