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Candlestick Chart

Show open, high, low and close for every period in a single expressive bar.

What is a candlestick chart?

A candlestick chart plots four prices per period — the open, high, low and close — as a single symbol. The rectangular body spans the open-to-close range and is coloured to show whether the period rose or fell, while thin wicks extend to the session high and low. Originating with Japanese rice traders in the 18th century, candlesticks pack more information into each bar than a simple line, revealing the balance between buyers and sellers.

Daily OHLC Candlestickscandlestick

Illustrative 60-session candlestick chart built from synthetic OHLC rows. Data is for demonstration only.

Where a line chart shows only the close, a candlestick tells the whole story of a session: where it opened, how far it ranged, and where it settled. That extra dimension is why candlesticks dominate trading screens. This tool renders 60 sessions of OHLC data so you can see how bodies and wicks encode intraday pressure.

Anatomy of a candle

Each candle has a body and two wicks. The body's top and bottom are the open and close; if the close is higher the candle is 'up' (often green or hollow), otherwise 'down' (red or filled). The upper wick reaches the high, the lower wick the low. A long body signals decisive one-way movement, while long wicks with a small body reveal a tug-of-war that ended near the open.

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The relationship between body and wick is the real information. A candle that opens near its low and closes near its high with almost no upper wick shows buyers in complete control. The same range with a long upper wick means buyers pushed price up but sellers rejected the highs, a very different message despite an identical trading range.

Patterns traders watch

Multi-candle patterns are candlestick analysis's calling card. A doji, where open and close nearly coincide, signals indecision. A bullish engulfing candle, whose body fully swallows the prior down candle, hints at a reversal. Hammers and shooting stars use long single wicks to mark rejected extremes. None is reliable alone; their value grows when they appear at meaningful support, resistance or after an extended run.

How Quadesto computes it

Quadesto reads your open, high, low and close columns directly and renders each row as a candle using the same engine that powers live market embeds. You simply map the four OHLC fields; no reshaping or pivoting is required. The chart above is produced from a plain table of daily OHLC rows, and the resulting candlestick embeds cleanly into reports and dashboards.

Build this with your own data

Upload a CSV or connect a live source, and Quadesto renders this exact chart — styled, computed, and embeddable in your reports and newsletters. Free to start.

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Frequently asked questions

What do the colours on a candlestick mean?
Colour encodes direction. An up candle, where the close is above the open, is conventionally green or hollow; a down candle, where the close is below the open, is red or filled. The convention makes it instantly clear whether buyers or sellers won the period at a glance.
What is a doji candle?
A doji forms when the open and close are almost equal, leaving a tiny or non-existent body with wicks on either side. It signals indecision — neither buyers nor sellers gained ground. After a strong trend, a doji can hint that momentum is stalling and a reversal may follow.
How is a candlestick different from an OHLC bar?
Both encode the same four prices, but a candlestick uses a coloured body between open and close while an OHLC bar uses left and right ticks on a vertical line. Candlesticks make direction and body size more visually immediate, which is why they are more popular on trading screens.
What is a bullish engulfing pattern?
A bullish engulfing pattern is a two-candle formation where a large up candle's body completely covers the previous down candle's body. Appearing after a decline, it suggests buyers have seized control and a reversal higher may be starting. It carries more weight near support.
Can I make a candlestick chart from my own data?
Yes. Upload a table with open, high, low and close columns to Quadesto, map the four fields, and the engine renders a candlestick chart. You can overlay moving averages or bands and embed the finished chart in any report.