Daily Chart Definition, Uses in Trading Strategies (2024)

What Is a Daily Chart?

A daily chart is a graph consisting of a security's price action during a single day of trading. Commonly, these data points are depicted by bar, candlestick, or line charts.

A daily chart can be compared with weekly charts.

Key Takeaways

  • A daily chart is a graph of data points, where each point represents the security's price action for a specific day of trading.
  • A daily chart may focus on the price action of a security for a single day or it can also, comprehensively, show the daily price movements of a security over a specified time frame.
  • Many day traders incorporate daily charts in their trading setups that span multiple time frames.

Understanding Daily Charts

Daily charts are one of the main tools used by technical traders seeking to profit from intraday price movements and longer-term trends. A daily chart may focus on the price action of a security for a single day or it can also, comprehensively, show the daily price movements of a security over a specified time frame.

More and more, candlestick charts are gaining popularity amongst traders mainly due to the ease with which they convey the basic information, such as the opening and closing price, as well as the trading range for the selected period of time.

Candlestick formations, however, will vary based on the time period used in creating the chart. Price charts can be graphed by selecting the time frame for each period. This could range from one minute to one year, though the most commonly used time frames are hour, day, week, and month. Many technical analysts may use an intra-day chart in combination with a longer-term chart for trading analysis.

Intra-day charts graph the movement of a security’s price from the time the market opens to the time it closes. Analysts can specify the candlestick display time frames they wish to view in this type of chart through their trading system’s settings. The candlestick bars will form on the chart in real-time based on the designated settings. Common settings are five or ten minutes per candlestick.

Many traders workwithintradayprice charts based on data that consist of 1-, 5-, 15-or 60-minute intervals.

Multiple Trading Sessions

Charts with multiple trading sessions will display a series of daily candlestick formations, showing the price movements for a specified period of time. Technical analysis trading research has shown that technical trading is often more successful when following the tides and waves of a security’s price trend rather than intraday ripples. Thus, candlestick charts showing multiple trading sessions are often more commonly used.

Daily Chart Definition, Uses in Trading Strategies (1)

In the above example, each candlestick represents a single day or trading session for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY). Note that there are about five months worth of trading data contained in the chart, which differentiates it from an intraday chart.

The line between days may be blurred in some markets. For example, the foreign exchange (forex) market operates 24 hours per day, which means that there is technically no stoppage of trading between one trading day and the next. The convention in these cases is to consider a single day to be 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time the next day. Most websites and applications that provide daily charts are automatically displayed this way.

Uses of Daily Charts

Many day traders incorporate daily charts in their trading setups that span multiple time frames. For instance, day traders may have two monitors displaying trades by the hour and trades over the past several days. This can help a trader to get a more complete picture of a security’s trading action.

Day traders use daily charts as their primary source of information. Typically trading systems will overlay candlestick formations with technical patterns and alerts. Traders can customize their price charts to include channels, as well as a variety of signal alerts to help them identify profitable trading opportunities.

Daily Chart Definition, Uses in Trading Strategies (2024)

FAQs

Daily Chart Definition, Uses in Trading Strategies? ›

A daily chart is a graph consisting of a security's price action

price action
In simple terms, price action trading is a technique that allows a trader to read the market and make subjective trading decisions based on recent and actual price movements, rather than relying solely on technical indicators.
https://www.investopedia.com › articles › active-trading › intr...
during a single day of trading. Commonly, these data points are depicted by bar, candlestick, or line charts. A daily chart can be compared with weekly charts.

What is the daily chart used for? ›

A daily chart is a graphical representation of a stock price movements during a single trading day. A daily chart can be in the form of a bar, candlestick, or line chart. One daily chart, in conjunction with other daily charts, can comprehensively show the price action of a stock over a specified period.

What is a trading day chart? ›

A daily chart provides a visual representation of a stock's price movement within a single trading day. Daily chart offers three main types- bar charts, candlestick charts, and line charts. These charts are customisable to different time frames, including minutes, hours, weeks, or months.

What does daily mean in trading? ›

Day trading means buying and selling securities rapidly — often in less than a day — in an attempt to profit off of short-term price movements. If you're researching how to day trade, chances are you're intrigued by the prospect of turning quick profits in the stock market.

Is the daily chart better? ›

The reason for this is a matter of liquidity. There is more trading volume in a 24-hour candle than a 4-hour one. As such, signals that form on the daily chart tend to be more reliable. Don't forget about the weekly and monthly time frames.

What is the difference between daily chart and intraday chart? ›

Daily chart depicts a security's movement for the entire day in a single candle, while in a intraday chart a single candle shows the movement of a security for a certain amount of time (like 15 mins, 1 hour etc.).

What is the most used indicator for day trading? ›

Moving averages, relative strength index (RSI), volume, and Bollinger Bands are among the most commonly used indicators. However, it is crucial to remember that indicators alone cannot guarantee success. Traders must combine indicators with sound risk management strategies, market analysis, and experience.

What is the 4 hour strategy? ›

A 4 hour forex trading strategy is a trading method that focuses on using the 4-hour timeframe to analyze the market and make trading decisions. It is a popular approach among traders who prefer a longer time frame but still want to take advantage of short-term price movements.

What is the 3-5-7 rule in trading? ›

A risk management principle known as the “3-5-7” rule in trading advises diversifying one's financial holdings to reduce risk. The 3% rule states that you should never risk more than 3% of your whole trading capital on a single deal.

What is the 10 am rule in stock trading? ›

Some traders follow something called the "10 a.m. rule." The stock market opens for trading at 9:30 a.m., and the time between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. often has significant trading volume. Traders that follow the 10 a.m. rule think a stock's price trajectory is relatively set for the day by the end of that half-hour.

What is the simplest most profitable trading strategy? ›

One of the simplest and most widely known fundamental strategies is value investing. This strategy involves identifying undervalued assets based on their intrinsic value and holding onto them until the market recognizes their true worth.

What is the most accurate chart pattern to trade? ›

Head and Shoulders Pattern: The head and shoulders pattern is considered one of the most reliable chart patterns and is used to identify possible trend reversals.

Is daily chart good for swing trading? ›

Generally, swing traders often look at daily and weekly charts to identify trends and patterns. Daily charts provide a closer look at short-term price movements, helping traders catch smaller market swings. Weekly charts, on the other hand, offer a broader perspective, aiding in capturing more significant trends.

What is a chart and what is its purpose? ›

A chart is a graphical representation of data. Visualizing data through charts helps to uncover patterns, trends, relationships, and structure in data. Use charts together with maps to explore data and help tell a story.

What is the difference between weekly and daily charts? ›

Weekly charts help smooth out daily price fluctuations, making it easier to identify longer-term trends in both the market indexes and individual stocks. Daily charts helps you spot specific buy points, buy zones and sell signals.

How to read a daily chart? ›

Vertical bars in the daily chart show the price range for that day and vertical bars in the weekly chart show the price range for that trading week. The small intersecting horizontal dash within the price bar indicates the current price or where a stock closed at the end of the day/week.

What is a chart used for time? ›

A time series chart, also called a times series graph or time series plot, is a data visualization tool that illustrates data points at successive intervals of time. Each point on the chart corresponds to both a time and a quantity that is being measured.

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