Understanding Volume Analysis and Volume Indicators (2024)

To understand volume analysis, it is important to have indicators that can help the investors to measure the volume. Most of the technical analysts use two of the important volume indicators, the Positive Volume Index (PVI) and the Negative Volume Index (NVI).

What is a Positive Volume Index?

The positive volume index is used to measure the positive impact or increase in the trading volume. Here, the trading volume is compared with the previous day to check if there is any increase. If there is an increase, the PVI (Positive Volume Index) is adjusted.

To calculate PVI,

PVI= PVIprevious + ( (CPtoday −CPyesterday) / CPyesterday )∗PVIprevious
Here,
PVI = Positive Volume Index
PVIprevious = Positive Volume Index of the previous day
CPtoday = Closing Price of today
CPyesterday = Closing Price of yesterday
The change in the positive volume index signifies the prices are being influenced by heavy volumes. This means the increase or decrease in PVI is due to trading in heavy volumes such as buying and selling in huge volumes.

What is a Negative Volume Index?

The negative volume index is used to measure the negative impact or decrease in the trading volume. Here, the trading volume is compared with the previous day to check if there is any decrease. If there is a decrease, the NVI (Negative Volume Index) is adjusted.

To calculate the NVI,

NVI= NVIprevious + ( (CPtoday −CPyesterday) / CPyesterday )∗NVIprevious
Here,
NVI = Negative Volume Index
NVIprevious = Negative Volume Index of the previous day
CPtoday = Closing Price today
CPyesterday = Closing Price yesterday
The change in the negative volume index signifies the prices are being influenced by lesser volumes. This means the increase or decrease in the volume is caused by the trade or buying/selling of lesser volumes.

Summary

Volume analysis is one of the important metrics that help investors understand the market trend from a broader perspective. It is defined as the number of trade exchanges such as shares and contracts during a specific time period. There are two most popular and widely used volume indicators: PVI (Positive Volume Index) and NVI (Negative Volume Index) that help in volume analysis. The positive volume index is used to measure the positive impact or increase in the trading volume. At the same time, the NVI is used to measure the negative impact or decrease in the trading volume.

Understanding Volume Analysis and Volume Indicators (2024)

FAQs

Understanding Volume Analysis and Volume Indicators? ›

Analyzing the volume indicator involves understanding the patterns created by the trading volume and their relationship with price action. High trading volumes often indicate increased market interest and liquidity, whereas low volumes suggest a lack of interest or limited market activity.

What are the indicators for volume analysis? ›

There are two most popular and widely used volume indicators: PVI (Positive Volume Index) and NVI (Negative Volume Index) that help in volume analysis. The positive volume index is used to measure the positive impact or increase in the trading volume.

How to understand Volume Profile indicator? ›

The Volume Profile is a representation of the volume traded at different price levels. It helps traders identify areas of high activity (high volume) and low activity (low volume) within the specified period. - Areas of High Volume: These are price levels where a significant volume of shares has been traded.

What does volume analysis tell you? ›

Volume analysis refers to the examination of the total number of securities transacted within a given time period. They can be shares or contracts of any given security. Technical analysts consider trading volume as one of the major indicators of the probability of success of a particular trading decision.

How do you read a balance volume indicator? ›

OBV rises when volume on up days outpaces volume on down days. OBV falls when volume on down days is stronger. A rising OBV reflects positive volume pressure that can lead to higher prices. Conversely, falling OBV reflects negative volume pressure that can foreshadow lower prices.

What are the best volume indicators for trading? ›

OBV, MFI, A/D, VWAP and Chaikin Oscillator are some of the most popular volume indicators that are well-known to professional traders.

How to trade using volume indicator? ›

Basic Guidelines for Using Volume
  1. Trend Confirmation. A rising market should see rising volume. ...
  2. Exhaustion Moves and Volume. In a rising or falling market, we can see exhaustion moves. ...
  3. Bullish Signs. Volume can be useful in identifying bullish signs. ...
  4. Volume and Price Reversals. ...
  5. Volume and Breakouts vs. ...
  6. Volume History.

What is the VWAP indicator? ›

VWAP is the average price of a stock weighted by volume. By monitoring VWAP, a trader might get an idea of a stock's liquidity and the price buyers and sellers agree is fair at a specific time. The VWAP indicator can be used by day traders to monitor intraday price movement.

What is the difference between volume profile and volume indicator? ›

Unlike a typical volume study that aggregates volume for a specified time period and displays a vertical column of the total volume for that period, the Volume Profile indicator plots a horizontal histogram of volume traded at specific prices.

What is VWAP in volume profile? ›

Volume-weighted average price (VWAP) is a ratio of the cumulative share price to the cumulative volume traded over a given time period. The measure often serves as a benchmark for comparing trade executions. The VWAP uses intraday data.

What is the most popular volume indicator? ›

1. On-Balance Volume Indicator (OBV) On-Balance Volume is one of the most commonly used day trading volume indicators that measures the currency pair's buying and selling pressure in the market.

What is the best volume indicator? ›

The Money Flow Index (MFI), considered one of the best volume indicators for day trading, is an oscillator that offers a quick glimpse into the buying and selling pressure on an asset. It combines both price and volume to create a more comprehensive view of market sentiment.

How to read volume indicator tradingview? ›

It is one of the oldest and most popular indicators and is usually plotted in colored columns, green for up volume and red for down volume, with a moving average. It is one of the few indicators that is not based on price. High volume points to a high interest in an instrument at its current price and vice versa.

What indicators are best for day trading? ›

Some best indicators for intraday include relative strength index (RSI), moving averages, stochastic oscillator, Bollinger Bands and volume. Moving averages help traders identify trends and potential reversals, while RSI and stochastic oscillators indicate overbought or oversold conditions.

What is better than OBV indicator? ›

Difference Between On-Balance-Volume and Volume-Price Trend

The Volume-Price Trend (VPT) indicator, like OBV, combines volume and price movement. However, VPT factors in the percentage change in price also make it more complex than OBV.

How reliable is the OBV indicator? ›

One limitation of OBV is that it is a leading indicator, meaning that it may produce predictions, but there is little it can say about what has actually happened in terms of the signals it produces. Because of this, it is prone to produce false signals. It can therefore be balanced by lagging indicators.

What is the standard volume indicator? ›

For a Standard Volume Indicator, the frequency must be 2.1 Hz ± 10 %, which corresponds to a free period of 0.47 s ± 10 %. 1) The overshoot must also be measured. For this measurement, the meter must be operated from the proper impedance (usually 3600 in series with a 300 source resistance, for 3900 total).

What are the volume average indicators? ›

Overview. A Volume + Moving Average indicator is used in charts and technical analysis. It refers to the average volume of a security, commodity, or index constructed in a period as short as a few minutes or as long as several years and showing trends for the latest interval.

What are the volume indicators in Tradingview? ›

The Volume indicator is used to measure how much of a given financial asset has traded in a specific period of time. For example, with stocks, volume is measured by the traded shares. For futures, volume is based more on the number of contracts.

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