What is a Candlestick?
A candlestick is a visual snapshot of price movement during a specific time period — could be 1 minute, 15 minutes, 1 day, or even 1 week. Every candle on a chart tells you exactly four things about what happened in that period.
Japanese rice traders invented candlestick charts in the 1700s. Today, every trading platform — from Zerodha Kite to NSE goBID — uses them by default. If you want to do technical analysis, candlesticks are your starting point.
What Every Candle Shows
Open
Price when period started
Close
Price when period ended
High
Highest price in period
Low
Lowest price in period
Anatomy of a Candlestick
The Body
The thick rectangular part of the candle. It shows the range between the open and close price. A longer body means stronger buyer or seller conviction. A short body means indecision.
Body = Close − Open (or Open − Close)
The Wick (Shadow)
The thin lines extending above and below the body. Upper wick shows the high; lower wick shows the low. Long wicks show strong rejection — the market tried to go there but got pushed back.
Long wick = strong rejection at that price
Bullish vs Bearish Candles
🟢 Bullish (Green) Candle
Close price is higher than open price. Buyers dominated during this period. In Zerodha Kite, these show up green.
Example: Nifty opened at 22,000, closed at 22,350 → Green candle
🔴 Bearish (Red) Candle
Close price is lower than open price. Sellers dominated during this period. In Zerodha Kite, these show up red.
Example: Reliance opened at ₹2,800, closed at ₹2,730 → Red candle
Key Candlestick Patterns Traders Watch
⊖Open and close are almost equal. The candle looks like a cross. Signals indecision — neither buyers nor sellers won. Often appears at turning points.
🔨Small body at top, long lower wick. Appears in a downtrend. Sellers tried to push price down but buyers rejected it strongly. Bullish reversal signal.
💫Shooting Star
Bearish reversalSmall body at bottom, long upper wick. Appears in an uptrend. Buyers tried to push price up but sellers rejected it. Bearish reversal signal.
📈Bullish Engulfing
Strong buy signalA large green candle completely "engulfs" the previous red candle. Strong sign that buyers have taken control. More powerful near support levels.
📉Bearish Engulfing
Strong sell signalA large red candle completely engulfs the previous green candle. Strong sign that sellers have taken control. More powerful near resistance levels.
Candlesticks Across Timeframes
1 min / 5 min
Intraday scalping on Nifty F&O
Best for: Day traders
15 min / 1 hr
Intraday trend analysis and swing entries
Best for: Active traders
Daily
Swing trading (holding 2–10 days)
Best for: Swing traders
Weekly
Long-term investing and positional trades
Best for: Investors & positional traders
Important: Never Trade a Single Candle in Isolation
A hammer near a strong support zone is powerful. The same hammer in the middle of nowhere is meaningless. Always combine candlestick patterns with support/resistance levels, trend direction, and volume for confirmation.
Key Takeaways
- Every candle shows Open, High, Low, and Close (OHLC)
- Green candle = buyers won; Red candle = sellers won
- Long wicks show rejection — important clue about market sentiment
- Patterns work best near key support/resistance levels
- Higher timeframe candles carry more weight than lower timeframes
