What is Pivot Points?
Pivot points mark a central pivot level and three resistance and three support levels for the current period, all calculated from the previous period's high, low and close. On intraday charts the period is a day, so the levels change once a day, not once per bar.
The levels do not react to what price is doing now. They are reference lines fixed when the previous period closes, and they do not tell you whether a level will hold.
How to use Pivot Points
- Price against the pivot. Trading above the central pivot is read as a firmer tone for the period, below it as a weaker one.
- R1 to R3 and S1 to S3. The resistance levels above and support levels below are places where many traders watch for a reaction. Each step further out is a larger move from the previous period's balance.
- Level breaks. A close through a level that was respected earlier in the period suggests the move has more behind it.
- The period. Check which period the levels come from before reading them. On a 1H chart in Auto they are the previous day's levels drawn across the whole of today.
These are reference levels, not entry signals on their own.
Settings
| Setting | Default | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Pivots Timeframe | Auto | Which period the levels are built from. Auto uses daily pivots on intraday charts and monthly pivots on daily charts or higher. Daily, Weekly and Monthly force that period on any chart. |
Change the period in the indicator settings. Only the Standard formulas are available.
Calculation
H, L and C are the high, low and close of the previous whole period. From them:
P = (H + L + C) / 3
R1 = 2 * P - L S1 = 2 * P - H
R2 = P + (H - L) S2 = P - (H - L)
R3 = H + 2 * (P - L) S3 = L - 2 * (H - P)Periods are counted in UTC: days start at midnight UTC, weeks on Monday and months on the first of the month. Auto decides from the spacing between bars: under a day apart gives daily pivots, a day or more gives monthly pivots.
Levels are only drawn from a period whose start is on the chart. The chart's history usually begins part-way through a period, and levels from a partial day would look plausible while being wrong, so the first period in the loaded history is skipped and lines begin at the second period boundary.
Each level is constant through its period and steps at the boundary, so it draws as a flat line with a short slanted connector where it changes.
Limitations
- They are fixed for the whole period. News or a large move inside the period does not move the levels.
- The period is not the chart's period. On intraday charts the levels describe the previous day, which can be very different from today's range.
- UTC boundaries. Days and weeks are cut at UTC midnight, which may not match the session you think of as a trading day.
- The first period is missing. No levels are drawn for the first period in the loaded history, because its full range was not seen.
- Only the Standard variant. Fibonacci, Woodie, Classic, DM and Camarilla pivots are not offered.
Frequently asked questions
Pivot points are support and resistance levels for the current period calculated from the previous period's high, low and close. The central pivot is the average of those three prices, and three resistance and three support levels are derived from it and from the previous range.
In Auto, intraday charts use daily pivots, built from the previous UTC day, and daily or higher charts use monthly pivots, built from the previous calendar month. You can force Daily, Weekly or Monthly in the settings. Weekly periods start on Monday.
Yes. The indicator declares one input: Pivots Timeframe, default Auto, with Daily, Weekly and Monthly as the other choices. Open the indicator's settings on the chart to change it.
No. The levels for a period are fixed once the previous period closes and do not move again. The one thing to know is that the first period in the loaded history is not used, because its start is not on the chart, so lines begin at the second period boundary. Loading more history can therefore add levels further back, but it does not change levels already drawn.
Levels are only drawn from a period whose beginning is on the chart. The first period in the loaded history is almost always partial, so it is skipped, and the first levels appear one full period after the history begins.
Use the Add to chart button at the top of this page. It opens BTC/USDT on Binance in the Altrady Charts terminal with the built-in Pivot Points Standard already applied. On any other market, open the indicator picker on the chart and choose Pivot Points Standard from the Levels group.