IndicatorsFAQ

Click Indicators in the top toolbar, type the name in the search box and click it. It's added to the chart straight away. To change its settings, hover over its name on the chart and click the settings icon.

All 184 built-in indicators are free. Premium indicators made by expert traders are available through the Indicator Marketplace.

Lagging indicators, like moving averages and MACD, confirm a trend after it has started. Leading indicators, like RSI and Stochastic, try to warn you of a turn before it happens. Lagging ones give fewer false signals but enter late; leading ones are early but wrong more often.

There's no single best one, but VWAP, Supertrend, RSI and EMA crossovers are the most popular among intraday traders in India. Many also add CPR or Prev Day OHLC to mark the day's key levels. Pick two or three that agree with each other rather than stacking ten.

Combine indicators that measure different things. A common setup pairs a trend tool like EMA or Supertrend with a momentum tool like RSI and a volume tool like VWAP. Two indicators that measure the same thing, like RSI and Stochastic, mostly just repeat each other.

RSI, or Relative Strength Index, measures how fast and how far price has moved on a scale of 0 to 100. Readings above 70 are usually called overbought and below 30 oversold. The default length is 14 periods, which works for most stocks and timeframes.

Don't sell just because RSI crosses 70; in a strong uptrend it can stay there for weeks. Traders get more out of it by watching for divergence, where price makes a new high but RSI doesn't, or by using the 50 line to judge whether buyers or sellers are in control.

MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence) tracks the gap between a 12-period and a 26-period EMA, with a 9-period signal line. When the MACD line crosses above the signal line, momentum is turning up; when it crosses below, it's turning down. The histogram shows how strong that momentum is.

Supertrend is a trend-following line that sits below price in an uptrend and above it in a downtrend, calculated from ATR. It flips when price closes through it. The common default is a length of 10 and a multiplier of 3, and it's one of the most used indicators on Nifty and Bank Nifty.

VWAP, or Volume Weighted Average Price, is the average price a stock has traded at during the day, weighted by volume. Institutions use it as a benchmark. Intraday traders treat price above VWAP as bullish and below as bearish, and often look to buy pullbacks to it.

Anchored VWAP starts the VWAP calculation from a point you choose, like a results day, a gap or a swing low, instead of the start of the session. It shows the average price paid by everyone who bought since that event, which often acts as support or resistance.

A Simple Moving Average gives every candle the same weight. An Exponential Moving Average gives more weight to recent candles, so it reacts faster to new moves. EMAs suit short-term trading; SMAs, like the 50 and 200-day, are popular for longer-term trend checks.

A crossover happens when a faster moving average crosses a slower one. A 9 EMA crossing above a 21 EMA is a common short-term buy signal, and the 50-day crossing above the 200-day, called a golden cross, is a well-known long-term one. Crossovers work best in trending markets and whipsaw in sideways ones.

Bollinger Bands put a 20-period moving average in the middle with bands two standard deviations above and below. When the bands squeeze tight, volatility is low and a big move often follows. When price rides along the upper band, the trend is strong, not necessarily overbought.

Stochastic shows where today's close sits within the recent high-low range, on a scale of 0 to 100. Above 80 is considered overbought and below 20 oversold. Signals come from the %K line crossing the %D line, and it works best in range-bound markets.

Stochastic RSI applies the Stochastic formula to RSI instead of price. That makes it much faster and more sensitive than plain RSI. It suits short-term traders looking for quick turns, but it also gives more false signals, so it's best used alongside a trend filter.

ADX, or Average Directional Index, measures how strong a trend is, not which direction it's going. A reading above 25 usually means a strong trend, and below 20 means a weak or sideways market. The +DI and -DI lines that come with it show whether buyers or sellers are leading.

ATR, or Average True Range, measures how much a stock typically moves in a period, including gaps. It doesn't tell you direction. Traders mostly use it to set stop-losses, for example placing a stop 1.5 times ATR away from entry so normal swings don't knock them out.

Ichimoku is a complete trend system in one indicator. The cloud shows support and resistance, the conversion and base lines show short and medium-term momentum, and the lagging span confirms the trend. Price above a green cloud is bullish; below a red cloud is bearish.

Parabolic SAR places dots above or below price. Dots below mean an uptrend, dots above mean a downtrend, and the dots flip when the trend reverses. Many traders use it as a trailing stop-loss, moving their stop to the latest dot.

Pivot Points are support and resistance levels calculated from the previous period's high, low and close. The central pivot shows the day's balance point, with R1 to R3 above and S1 to S3 below. Intraday traders use them to plan entries, targets and stops before the market opens.

CPR, or Central Pivot Range, is three lines built from the previous day's high, low and close. A narrow CPR often points to a trending day, and a wide one to a sideways day. TradingCharts has CPR for daily, weekly and monthly levels, plus tomorrow's CPR so you can plan the next session.

It draws the previous day's open, high, low and close as lines on your intraday chart. Yesterday's high and low are some of the most watched levels in the market, and breakouts above or below them often lead to strong moves.

OBV, or On Balance Volume, adds volume on up days and subtracts it on down days to build a running total. If OBV is rising while price is flat, buying may be building up quietly. Divergence between OBV and price is the main thing traders watch for.

Money Flow Index is like RSI but includes volume, so it shows buying and selling pressure rather than price alone. It runs from 0 to 100, with readings above 80 seen as overbought and below 20 as oversold. Divergence between MFI and price often comes before a reversal.

Volume Profile shows how much volume traded at each price, as horizontal bars on the side of the chart. The price with the most volume, the point of control, often acts like a magnet, and low-volume areas tend to get crossed quickly. TradingCharts has both Visible Range and Session Volume Profile.

OI Profile shows open interest across option strike prices, so you can see where traders have built the biggest positions. Strikes with heavy call writing often act as resistance and heavy put writing as support. It's especially useful for Nifty and Bank Nifty options traders.

Squeeze Momentum spots periods when Bollinger Bands move inside Keltner Channels, which means volatility has dried up and a breakout may be close. The histogram then shows which way momentum is building. It's popular for catching moves right as they start.

Yes, every built-in indicator has adjustable inputs like length, source and multiplier, plus colours and line styles. The defaults are the commonly used values, such as 14 for RSI and 12, 26, 9 for MACD, so start with those before you tweak anything.