Volume is the number of shares traded on a day to day basis. If there is no volume, then the price of shares won’t move. In short, volume plays a key role in deciding the movement. In this blog, we are going to talk over what is volume profile, how is volume calculated, their correlation with price, candlesticks, supports & resistances.
What is Volume Profile?
Volume simply means the number of shares traded of particular stock/securities within a specified time. If a move in prices of shares happens with high volume then, it is considered to be more reliable. And the move can be expected to continue according to technical analysis. But if the move happens with a low volume, then the move may be questionable.
To confirm any pattern or to apply any technical indicator on the stock market, the Volume profile plays the most critical role. It helps in confirming the trends or patterns in the market to increase the accuracy of the trade. It also plays a very big role in understanding the buyers’ or the seller’s perspectives. Without sizable volume, even the strongest of technical indicator or pattern might not hold much significance.
How is Volume calculated?
Now we understood that Volume simply signifies the number of stocks/securities bought or sold within a specified time-frame. The more active the stock is, the higher the volume and vice-versa.
For example, in the case of Reliance Industries, if for the price of Rs. 2100, a total of 50 share been bought and 50 share being sold, then the volume here is 50 (and not 100). For the correct volume calculation, there has to be a buyer for every seller to complete a transaction. We should not consider the volume to be 100 (50 buys + 50 sell). Let us understand it with the help of an example:
So, from the above table, we can notice different buying and selling activities for the stocks/security for the different levels of time. The buyers and sellers meet to create volume for the stock/security. And the cumulative volume is a summation of all the volume traded for the day.
Correlation between Volume and Price
While trading with keeping volume in mind, the prior price and volume trend is of high significance. If the move happens, with the volume near its average volume or more than average volume, then that move holds more significance, than the move with thin or low volume.
Now, let us understand the correlation between volume and price with the help of the following table:
If the price increases with an increase in volume, then the expectation from the market is that the bullishness or strength is expected to continue. And if the same move were to happen with low volume, we can say that one needs to be cautious and be careful about forecasting the next move.
Similarly, if the price of the share reduces, with increased volume, we can expect the bearishness to sustain and continue. And if the same move happens on less volume, we need to be careful with the next leg of this move. And similar interpretation can be done for Rangy markets.
Participants on Low and High Volume days
If the market is trading with low volume, we can say that there is a lot of retail player’s participation in the market.
However, if the market is trading on high volume, we can say that there is a lot of institutional buying and selling in the market. Higher volume moves have better conviction and a higher chance of a continuation of the move, in the near future.
Correlation between Candlesticks, S&R and Volume
If the candlestick pattern gives certain trade patterns and if the signal were to come near the supports and Resistances and to top it off if the volume profile were aligned with the technical signals, then the trade can be said to have a very high probability of being successful.
In other words, a marriage of technical factors along with volume goes a long way in generating strong trading signals. Traders can benefit significantly from it if spotted at the right time.
Conclusion
- Volume is one of the most important indicators in understanding the trend of the market.
- It provides a very strong impetus to our technical view on the market.
- If the market is trading on low volume, we can say that retail traders are participating in the move.
- If the price increases with an increase in volume, we can expect the bullishness or strength to continue (and vice versa).
- And, if the market trades on high volume, it generally is a signal that institutional players are participating in the market