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Trends & Market Structure

What Is a Break of Structure

A break of structure is a close beyond the last swing high in a rising market, or beyond the last swing low in a falling one, so the run of higher highs or lower lows continues. This paper shows you one drawn from gold's daily candles in March 2025, the idea as a high-jump bar that is cleared and raised, the break on the daily chart, the same thing downward on the euro at the turn of the year, and how to copy a line to the new high with Ctrl on your platform.

Difficulty
Beginner
Reading time
5 min
Pages
8
Reviewed by
Saman Rahbar

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A close beyond the last high

A break of structure is a close beyond the last turn. In a rising market the last turn that matters is the last swing high — the highest point before the most recent dip. Gold's was 2956.13 on 24 February 2025. It fell to 2832.58 on 28 February and climbed back; on 12 March it closed at 2933.27, still under the line; on 13 March it closed at 2988.65, above it. That close is the break. The rising structure has made its next higher high, and the old high is behind it.

The high-jump bar

The picture is a high-jump bar. The bar sits at the last high. A jump that clears it — a close above it, not a wick brushing against it, a wick being the thin line beyond a candle's body — is the break of structure, and after it the bar is set at the new high. The old height is no longer the thing to beat. In a falling market the bar is on the floor instead: the last low, and the break is a close under it.

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