How to draw a trend line.

Picture a pair that dips and bounces, where each dip stops a little higher than the one before. A straight line under those dips is a trend line, and it turns a rising floor into something you can measure.

A trend line is a sloped line drawn through two or more swing points in the direction of the trend. It is support or resistance that moves with time, unlike the flat levels in the support and resistance lesson.

Which points does a trend line connect?

In an uptrend, price makes higher lows: each pullback ends above the last one. An uptrend line joins those lows and runs under price, so it behaves like rising support.

In a downtrend, price makes lower highs: each rally fails below the last one. A downtrend line joins those highs and runs above price, like falling resistance.

The points you join are swing lows and swing highs, the turning points described in market structure. A line through candles in the middle of a move, where nothing turned, tells you little.

How do you draw an uptrend line?

Your platform's trend line tool does the drawing, and you choose the points:

1. Find a clear swing low where a pullback ended. Call it A.
2. Find a later swing low that sits higher than A. Call it B.
3. Draw a straight line from A through B and extend it to the right.
4. Check that price did not cut through the line between A and B. If it did, choose different swings.

Here is a worked example on a one hour EUR/USD chart. The prices are round and illustrative, and candle A is counted as candle 0.

1. Low A is 1.08000. Twenty candles later, low B is 1.08600.
2. The rise is 1.08600 minus 1.08000 = 0.00600, which is 60 pips.
3. Over 20 candles, the line climbs 60 ÷ 20 = 3 pips (0.00030) per candle.
4. Ten candles after B, at candle 30, the line sits at 1.08600 + 10 × 0.00030 = 1.08900.
5. Price dips to 1.08910 there and turns up. That low, C, is 1 pip above the line.

Knowing the slope tells you where the line will be before price arrives. That is the number you need if you set an alert or an order near the line.

How do you draw a downtrend line?

The method flips for a falling market. You join swing highs, each lower than the last, and the line runs down to the right above the candles.

This example uses a four hour USD/JPY chart, again with illustrative prices. On a yen pair a pip is 0.01.

1. High A is 152.00. Sixteen candles later, high B is 151.20.
2. The drop is 152.00 minus 151.20 = 0.80, which is 80 pips.
3. Over 16 candles, the line falls 80 ÷ 16 = 5 pips (0.05) per candle.
4. Eight candles after B, the line sits at 151.20 minus 8 × 0.05 = 150.80.
5. A rally stalls at 150.78, 2 pips under the line, and price turns down. That high is C.

How many touches does a trend line need?

Any two points can be joined by a line, so two touches give you only a guess. A common convention is to call the line confirmed once price reacts at a third point, as at C in both examples.

Spacing matters as well. Three lows packed into a few candles are close to a single event, while lows spread across many candles show price respecting the line over time.

No number of touches guarantees that the next one holds. A line with four touches can break on the fifth.

Steepness changes how a line behaves. A very steep line needs price to keep moving fast, so a short pause can break it. A shallow line survives pauses but sits far from price and gets tested less often.

You may meet rules about an ideal angle, such as 45 degrees. The angle on screen changes when you stretch or squeeze the chart, so a fixed angle has no real meaning.

Trend lines describe what price has already done. Evidence that they predict moves on their own is weak, partly because two people looking at one chart often draw different lines.

Should you draw through wicks or candle bodies?

Each swing gives you two possible anchors: the tip of the wick or the edge of the body. Wicks record every price traded, and bodies ignore brief spikes and track opens and closes.

The candlestick lesson explains both parts. Either choice is fine if you use it for every point on the line. Mixing a wick for one anchor and a body for another lets you force a line through almost any chart.

Treat the line as a narrow band. Price rarely meets a sloped line to the exact pip, which is why C counted at 1 pip away. The idea from support and resistance zones applies here too.

Chart scale can move a line on long charts. Over a large percentage move, a logarithmic scale places the line differently from a linear one, though on a few days or weeks of a currency pair the difference is small.

When does a trend line stop counting?

A common rule is that a line breaks when a candle closes clearly beyond it. A wick that pokes through, with the candle closing back on the line's original side, leaves the line in place.

The EUR/USD example shows both cases:

1. At candle 36, the line sits at 1.08000 + 36 × 0.00030 = 1.09080.
2. A wick drops to 1.09040, 4 pips below it, but the candle closes at 1.09150, above the line. The line still holds.
3. At candle 40, the line sits at 1.08000 + 40 × 0.00030 = 1.09200.
4. That candle closes at 1.09050, 15 pips below the line. Under a close rule, the line is broken.

You can add a filter, such as a close a set number of pips beyond the line or two closes in a row. No filter suits every pair, and one sized for a quiet pair may be too tight on a volatile one.

Breaks that reverse quickly are covered in false breakouts.

A break shows that the old pace has ended. Price can reverse, move sideways or keep trending at a gentler slope, so treat a break as a reason to look at the chart again.

You can redraw a shallower line through newer swing lows. Do it only when a clear new swing forms, or you end up bending the line to fit every candle.

A broken line sometimes acts from the other side, the same role reversal seen with flat levels. Adding a parallel line on the opposite side of price turns a trend line into a price channel.