What a candle tells you: Open, high, low and close in one shape
What each part of a candlestick means, why green and red candles matter, how wicks show a lost fight, and why traders prefer candles to line charts.
Every candle is one day’s fight between buyers and sellers
A candlestick packs four prices into one shape: where the day opened, its high, its low and where it closed. Line charts only join the closes. Candles show the whole day, which is why almost every Indian trading app shows them by default.
What to look for
- Green: it closed higher than it opened. Buyers won the day.
- Red: it closed lower than it opened. Sellers won.
- The wicks show how far price travelled before being pushed back. A long wick is a fight someone lost.
Each candle is one period. On a daily chart that is one day; on a 5-minute chart it is five minutes.
Look at the last candle on the right. Its body is small and sits near the top, with a long wick hanging below it. What happened that day?
- Sellers pushed price down during the day, but buyers pushed it back up by the close
- Price fell all day and closed at its low
- The stock didn’t trade that day
Show the answer
Sellers pushed price down during the day, but buyers pushed it back up by the close. The long lower wick shows how low price went during the day. The close back near the top shows buyers took it all back. Sellers tried and failed.
Reading the last candle
The stock was climbing, making higher highs. On the last day sellers pushed it down towards ₹445, but buyers lifted it back to close near the top. In a rising market, a failed sell-off like that is usually a sign of strength.
One candle is a clue, not a verdict. Read it together with the trend around it, which the next chapter covers.
Practise What a candle tells you, free
Reading about it is step one. In MarketSeekho you see a real NSE chart with the future hidden, call Bull or Bhalu, say why, and get graded on your reasoning, not luck.
Common questions
What is What a candle tells you?
A candlestick packs four prices into one shape: where the day opened, its high, its low and where it closed. Line charts only join the closes. Candles show the whole day, which is why almost every Indian trading app shows them by default. HighCloseOpenLow HighOpenCloseLow wickbodywick closed higherclosed lower
What should I look for with What a candle tells you?
Green: it closed higher than it opened. Buyers won the day. Red: it closed lower than it opened. Sellers won. The wicks show how far price travelled before being pushed back. A long wick is a fight someone lost.
How can I practise reading What a candle tells you for free?
MarketSeekho has a free four-page chapter on What a candle tells you (learn, answer a question, spot it on a chart, then make a call) and daily real-chart practice graded on your reasoning. No sign-up or money needed.