What are intraday charts? Intraday charts are those charts that have a time frame shorter than one day or 24 hours. So the 1 minute, 5 minute, 15 minute, 30 minute, 60 minute and 240 minute charts are intraday charts. The 240-minute chart is also known as the 4-hour chart. Reading the intraday chart is the same for these different time frames.
You can see these timeframes using a bar chart or a candlestick. A bar chart and a candlestick have some similarities and some differences. On a bar chart, a time period like 1M, 5M, 30M, 60M or 240M is represented by a bar. This bar will have a small horizontal bar that will represent the open, high, low, and close of that timeframe. There are some bar patterns that are considered very important and day traders like to trade them.
On the other hand, in candlestick chart, time period like 1M, 5M, 15M, 30M, 60M and 240M is represented by the candle body which has opening and closing. This candle body will have two wicks at the top and bottom of the candle body that will show you the high and low of that time period. If the closing price was higher than the opening price, we have a bullish candlestick and it is always given a light color like white or gray. And in case the closing price is lower than the opening price, we have a bearish candlestick which is always given a dark color like black. There are a number of candlestick patterns that, when they appear on these charts, are considered important reversal and trend continuation patterns.
These intraday charts are used by short-term traders or those more popularly known as day traders. The 1M chart is very fast and there is a lot of noise in these charts due to the very short time frame used. 5M cards are also a bit fast. Both these 1M and 5M charts are used by scalpers who need to get in and out of the market quickly and grab a few pips each time. One of the most popular charts are the 4H charts that many day traders use to trade the Forex market. When trading these 4-hour charts, you don’t need to monitor them as often compared to lower time frame charts that require frequent monitoring. However, reading these intraday charts is almost the same. If you know how to read 4H charts, you will also be able to read lower time frame charts like 1M, 5M, 15M, 30M and 60M!