On June 15, 2023, the EUR/USD closed at 1.0935, up 0.32% for the day. Behind this number lies the trace of a day-long battle between bulls and bears—the open, high, low, and close prices form the skeleton of a candlestick. Our tool is designed to help you extract decision-making information from this raw data.

What Is It?

Candlestick charts originated in the 18th-century Japanese rice market and were systematized by a merchant named Munehisa Homma. Each candlestick contains four prices: Open, Close, High, and Low. By comparing the close and open, you can gauge the balance of buying and selling power during that timeframe.

In our lookup tool, you can select any currency pair (e.g., EUR/USD, GBP/JPY), timeframe (daily, weekly, monthly), and date range. The system will return the corresponding candlestick sequence and automatically calculate auxiliary indicators for each candle, such as the percentage change, body length, and upper/lower shadow lengths.

Principles and Formulas

There are two core formulas:

Price Change (%) = (Close − Previous Close) ÷ Previous Close × 100%
Body Ratio = |Close − Open| ÷ (High − Low) × 100% (Shadow Ratio = 1 − Body Ratio)

Why do these formulas make sense? The price change directly reflects the change in value. The body ratio measures the distance between the close and open as a percentage of the total fluctuation. A larger body indicates stronger momentum in that direction, while a smaller body suggests a tug-of-war between bulls and bears. The shadows (wicks) represent extreme prices that were rejected by the market.

Complete Calculation Example

Let's look at a practical example. Open the "Forex Candlestick Chart Viewer" tool above:

Select EUR/USD from the "Currency Pair" dropdown list;
Select Daily in the "Timeframe" options;
Set the date range to 2023-06-01 to 2023-06-30;
Click the "Search" button, and the page will load the daily candlestick chart for that period;
Hover your mouse over the candlestick for June 15, 2023, and the right panel will display detailed data:
Open 1.0901, Close 1.0935, High 1.0950, Low 1.0880;
The tool automatically calculates the following in the "Indicator Card" below: Price Change 0.31% (assuming the previous day's close was 1.0901; actual calculation requires previous day's data), Body Length 34 pips (0.0034), Upper Shadow 15 pips, Lower Shadow 21 pips, and Body Ratio as 34 ÷ (1.0950 − 1.0880) = 34 ÷ 70 ≈ 48.6%.

Interpretation: This is a bullish candle (Close > Open). The body accounts for less than half of the day's total fluctuation, indicating that while bulls pushed the price up, they encountered significant selling pressure along the way. The long upper shadow shows resistance at the highs, and the long lower shadow shows support at the lows. Overall, it represents a tug-of-war with a slight bullish bias.

More Examples

Comparative Example: The Same Currency Pair Across Different Timeframes

Querying EUR/USD again, change the timeframe to "Weekly" and set the date range to the entire month of June 2023. Now there are only 4 candlesticks (corresponding to the four trading weeks). Taking the week of June 12-16 as an example, the tool shows: Open 1.0748, Close 1.0935, High 1.0970, Low 1.0733. Body Ratio = (1.0935 − 1.0748) ÷ (1.0970 − 1.0733) = 0.0187 ÷ 0.0237 ≈ 78.9%. Interpretation: The weekly body ratio is much larger than the daily one, indicating that bulls dominated consistently throughout the week and the trend has continuity. This demonstrates how higher timeframes filter out market noise.

How to Interpret the Results

Candlestick Feature	Market Implication	Trading Reference
Body Ratio > 70%	Strong one-sided momentum	Consider holding in the trend direction
Body Ratio 40%–70%	Trending but with divergence	Confirm with subsequent candlesticks
Body Ratio < 40%	Tug-of-war (e.g., Doji)	Wait and see or test lightly in the opposite direction
Extremely long upper shadow (> 3x body)	Strong resistance on the upside	Consider short-term shorting
Extremely long lower shadow (> 3x body)	Strong support on the downside	Consider short-term going long

Note: The above is based solely on single candlestick patterns. Real-world trading requires combining multiple candlesticks, trading volume, fundamentals, and other factors.

Common Mistakes

Confusing the positive/negative direction of the body: A bearish candle (Close < Open) has a negative body. When calculating the price change, you must use the previous day's close, not today's open.
Using post-spread quotes: Our tool displays the market mid-price. Actual trading is based on the bid/ask quotes (which include the spread), but candlesticks should be drawn using the mid-price.
Timeframe mismatches: If there are multiple quotes on a given day in a daily timeframe, the standard exchange session is usually adopted. Custom sessions require adjustments.
Treating shadows as definitive buy/sell signals: A single excessively long shadow might just be a data anomaly (like a flash crash) and requires filtering out the noise.

Boundaries and Limitations

The candlestick data and calculated indicators output by this tool are for educational and reference purposes only and do not constitute any investment, financial, or trading advice. For actual decisions, please combine professional trading software, real-time market quotes, and professional advice. The forex market involves leverage and liquidity risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. The tool defaults to the latest closing price and does not account for factors like ex-dividends or splits.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What do the red and green colors in the candlestick chart represent?: Our tool defaults to red for up and green for down (Chinese convention), meaning a close higher than the open displays as a hollow red bullish candle, and a close lower than the open displays as a solid green bearish candle. The European/US convention typically uses green for up and red for down, which can be toggled in the "Color Scheme" section in the top right corner of the tool.
Why does the candlestick data I found differ from other platforms?: Different data sources may be based on different market maker quotes or different time zone closing times (e.g., New York close vs. London close). Our data source is Refinitiv, providing a globally unified benchmark price. Differences are usually within 1–2 pips.
Can the tool backtest historical data older than 10 years?: The free version supports daily data for the past 5 years, while weekly and monthly data can cover up to 10 years. Longer time ranges require an API key upgrade. If you have academic research needs, please contact customer support.
How are the body ratio and shadow ratio calculated?: Body Ratio = |Close - Open| ÷ (High - Low) × 100%. Shadow Ratio = 1 - Body Ratio. The two add up to 100%.
Can this tool help me predict exchange rate trends?: No. All technical indicators are based on historical prices and do not have predictive capabilities. Candlestick patterns need to be judged comprehensively alongside market sentiment and macroeconomic data. Please do not use them as your sole basis for trading.
Why are there no candlesticks on certain dates?: The forex market is closed on weekends (Saturday and Sunday), so there are no quotes. The interbank market is also closed on certain statutory holidays (like Christmas), which may result in missing data. The tool will label these as "Non-trading days".

Now you can enter any currency pair and date range in the calculator above to view real-time candlesticks and observe the automatically calculated indicators. Try changing the timeframe or dates to see how the body ratio changes across different time scales.