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What Is a Heikin Ashi Chart

A Heikin Ashi chart draws each candle from averages: its close is the average of the day's four prices, and its open is the middle of the previous averaged candle, so the candles run in smoother streaks of one colour than real candles do. This paper shows you gold's 22 April 2025 drawn twice from real bars, red as a real candle and green as a Heikin Ashi one, the idea as a chain of links, the same thirty-four days as real candles and as averaged ones, and how to switch the chart on.

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

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One day, drawn twice

A Heikin Ashi chart draws each candle — the bar that shows one day's open, high, low and close — from averages instead of from the day's own open and close. Take one real day, gold on 22 April 2025. The real candle opened at 3423.79 and closed at 3380.62, a fall of 43 dollars, so it is red. The Heikin Ashi candle for the same day has a close that is the average of the day's four prices, open, high, low and close: 3417.76. Its open is the middle of the previous Heikin Ashi candle: 3332.25. From 3332 to 3418 is a rise, so the same day comes out green. Heikin Ashi is Japanese for average bar.

A chain of links

Picture a chain. Each link begins inside the one before it, halfway along, so no link can start where the last one ended, and the chain runs smooth. A Heikin Ashi candle is a link: its open is the middle of the previous Heikin Ashi candle, and its close is the average of its own day's four prices. A real candle starts where the market opened and can gap or jerk. A Heikin Ashi candle starts where the last average was, and its colour changes only when the day's average crosses that middle.

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