Support and resistance: what they are and how to draw them
By Bec, futures trader and founder of Wildflower · Updated
Support is a price area below the market where falling prices stopped and turned up before. Resistance is a price area above the market where rising prices stopped and turned down. Both are drawn from past highs and lows. They show where price reacted before, not what it will do next.
Why it’s called support and resistance
Think of a room. A price area below the market where falling prices have stopped and turned up before.More in the glossary is the floor: a price area below the market where falling prices have stopped and turned up before. A price area above the market where rising prices have stopped and turned down before.More in the glossary is the ceiling: a price area above the market where rising prices have stopped and turned down before.
The names come from the idea that buyers held price up at the floor, and sellers pushed it back at the ceiling. Traders often write them together as S/R. The names describe what happened in the past. They don’t promise it will happen again.
How to draw support, step by step
1. Find where price turned
Look for lows where falling prices stopped and turned up. Each one is a A dip on the chart: a candle whose low is below the lows of the candles on both sides of it.More in the glossary.
2. Draw a line
If two or more turns sit near the same price, draw a line through the lowest The thin lines above and below a candle’s body. Their tips are the highest and lowest prices in that candle.More in the glossary.
3. Widen it to a zone
Add a second line where the candle bodies begin. The space between the lines is the zone.
4. Name it
The zone sits below the current price, so it’s support. Keep it marked and see what price does when it comes back.
For resistance, flip it. Look for highs where rising prices stopped and turned down, each one a A peak on the chart: a candle whose high is above the highs of the candles on both sides of it.More in the glossary. Draw the zone from the highest wick down to where the bodies begin.
Support vs resistance
Support sits below the current price. It’s where falling prices stopped before.
Resistance sits above the current price. It’s where rising prices stopped before.
Which one a zone is depends only on where price is now. The same zone can be support today and resistance next week. More on that below.
Is support a line or a zone?
Price rarely turns at the exact same tick twice. A single line can look broken when a wick pokes a little past it, even though price turned. That’s why many traders draw a zone instead.
How wide to draw it is your call. Some traders use the wicks, some the bodies, some a set number of ticks either side of a line. There’s no single rule.
When a level holds, and when it breaks
A touch is still a hold. Price can reach into the zone and turn. The zone did its job.
A wick isn’t a close. A wick can poke below support and the candle can still close back above it. Many traders still count that as holding. Some call it a false break or a A quick move past an earlier high or low that then closes back inside it.More in the glossary.
A close is a break. When a candle closes below support, many traders call it broken. For resistance, it’s a close above.
How many touches? There’s no fixed number. Some traders want two turns before they draw a level, others mark every swing low. Some see more touches as a stronger level. Others see each touch as using up the buyers or sellers waiting there. Neither is a rule.
Timeframe matters. A level on a 1-hour chart may not show on a 1-minute chart, and a close on one timeframe isn’t a close on another.
When support becomes resistance
Once support breaks, some traders keep the zone marked and watch it from the other side. If price comes back up to it, they now treat it as resistance. Broken resistance can become support the same way. This is called role reversal, or a polarity flip.
One explanation often given: traders who bought at the old support are now losing, and some sell to get out when price returns to where they got in. It’s a way of describing what traders see, not a rule. Price can also slice straight back through. Read about break and retest.
Round numbers as support and resistance
Prices like 5,000 or 20,000 are easy to remember. Many traders set orders and alerts at them, so some watch round numbers as levels even when price has never turned there before.
On a futures chart, they’re prices like 5,000, 5,050 or 5,100. How far apart you mark them is your choice. Some traders mark the round number itself; others mark a zone a few ticks either side.
Where traders find levels
Different traders draw levels from different places. Some of the ones you’ll hear about:
- Swing highs and lows: the turning points drawn above.
- The previous day’s high and low. Read about previous day high and low.
- Round numbers, as above.
- Opening prices, such as where the day or the week opened.
- Moving averages and VWAP. These move with price, so traders call them dynamic levels. Read about moving averages.
Different methods give different levels, and two traders looking at the same chart will often draw them in different places. What can happen next at any of them: price bounces, pauses, breaks straight through, or breaks and comes back. A level can’t tell you which.
Often confused with
Supply and demand zones. Drawn from the quiet area just before a strong move, not from repeated turns. Read about supply and demand zones.
Trendlines. A sloped line through rising lows or falling highs. Support and resistance are flat. Read about trendlines.
Pivot points. Levels worked out with a formula from the previous day’s high, low and close, not drawn by eye. Read about pivot points.
Order block. The last candle before a strong move, often marked as a zone. Read about order blocks.
Support and resistance indicator for TradingView
Mark the turns you can describe, to your own rules
Drawing levels by hand on every chart is slow, and no two people draw them quite the same. Wildflower’s Indicator marks things on a chart from rules you describe in plain words, with every number typed by you. It can mark swing highs and swing lows, and each close past the most recent one. Round numbers, levels you draw yourself and zones built from several touches aren’t building blocks. If you describe one, it tells you plainly. Everything it can build, you can check on a chart for free, then add to TradingView with a step-by-step guide.
Try it free. You only pay when you add it to TradingView.
Common questions
What is support and resistance in simple terms?
Support is a floor under price where falls have stopped before. Resistance is a ceiling above price where rises have stopped before.
Is support a line or a zone?
Either. Price rarely turns at the exact same tick twice, so many traders draw a zone. How wide is your choice. More above.
How many touches make a level?
There’s no fixed number. Some traders want two or more turns near the same price. Others mark every swing high and low.
When is support broken?
Many traders call support broken when a candle closes below it. A wick poking below and closing back above is often still counted as holding.
Why does support become resistance?
One explanation is that traders who bought at the old support sell when price returns there. It’s a description of what traders see, not a rule.
Which timeframe is best for support and resistance?
There’s no best one. Levels can be drawn on any timeframe, and each one shows different levels. The one you watch is your choice.
Are round numbers support and resistance?
Some traders treat them that way, because orders and alerts gather at easy-to-remember prices. Price has no duty to react there.
Do support and resistance levels always hold?
No. Price can bounce, pause, break straight through, or break and come back. A level shows where price reacted before, not what happens next.
Does support and resistance work in futures, forex and crypto?
You can draw them on any chart in any market, because they only need past highs and lows. Whether price reacts at a level is never certain.
Can I get a support and resistance indicator for TradingView?
The Indicator can mark swing highs and lows, and closes past them. Round numbers and levels you draw yourself aren’t building blocks. See the Indicator.