A trade above the one before:an uptick, one small step more.
A trade or quote at a price higher than the one before it; the opposite of a downtick.
A single uptick says almost nothing about direction: a falling market contains many upticks.
In plain words
An uptick is a single price change in which the new price is higher than the one before. Its opposite, a downtick, is a change to a lower price.
See it move
Uptick: the distance between New price and Previous price
Why it matters
Ticks are the raw material of a price chart: each candle or bar is built from the upticks and downticks within its period. Platforms that colour a quote when it changes are showing whether the latest tick was up or down.
Worked example
An example only. The figures are round and invented for the arithmetic: they are not market prices.
A pair’s price updates in the sequence 1.1000, 1.1001, 1.1001, 1.1000, 1.1002.
- 11.1000 to 1.1001an uptick.
- 21.1001 to 1.1001no change.
- 31.1001 to 1.1000a downtick.
- 41.1000 to 1.1002an uptick.
The sequence holds two upticks and one downtick, and the price ends 2 pips higher than it began.
A common mistake
One uptick says almost nothing about direction. Prices tick up and down constantly, and a falling market contains many upticks.
Check yourself
Educational information, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade.