
Candlestick charts, also known as Japanese candlestick charts, are a style of financial chart that shows the price movement of stocks, derivatives, and other financial instruments in real-time. They are widely used for technical analysis in trading as they visualise the price size within a period. The four key components of a candlestick chart are open, high, low, and close. These charts can be created in Python using libraries such as Matplotlib, Plotly, Pandas, and mplfinance. This article will provide an introduction to plotting Japanese candlestick charts in Python, covering the necessary libraries, data sources, and customisation options.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Libraries used | Plotly, Matplotlib, Pandas, Nsepy, Mplfinance |
| Chart type | Candlestick, Japanese candlestick |
| Chart function | plotly.graph_objects.Candlestick, mplfinance.candlestick_ohlc |
| Chart description | Open, High, Low, Close (OHLC) |
| Chart data source | CSV, National Stock Exchange (NSE) India |
| Chart data type | Financial, stock price |
| Chart data format | Pandas dataframe |
| Chart customisation | Hollow candlesticks, dashed lines, grids |
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What You'll Learn

Using the Plotly package
To plot a Japanese candlestick chart in Python, you can use the Plotly package. This package provides a simple way to create interactive candlestick charts with just one line of code.
First, you need to install the package by importing the necessary modules:
Python
Import plotly.graph_objects as go
Import pandas as pd
From datetime import datetime
Next, you can read the data from a CSV file or any other data source. For example, using Pandas:
Python
Df = pd.read_csv('your_file_address')
Now, you can create the candlestick chart using the go.Candlestick class from Plotly:
Python
Fig = go.Figure(data=[go.Candlestick(x=df['name_of_time_column'],
Open=df['name_of_open_column'],
High=df['name_of_high_column'],
Low=df['name_of_low_column'],
Close=df['name_of_close_column'])])
Here, `x` represents the time or date values, and `open`, `high`, `low`, and `close` are the corresponding values for each data point.
Finally, you can display the chart using fig.show():
Python
Fig.show()
Additionally, Plotly offers several advanced features for candlestick charts. For example, you can convert standard candlesticks into hollow candlesticks, where the outline and fill colors indicate whether the close is higher or lower than the previous close. This type of chart provides a better understanding of the price action. You can also add additional information, such as trading volumes, by including a bar chart as a marginal subplot.
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Using the Matplotlib library
Matplotlib is a widely used Python library for plotting graphs. It is a numerical and mathematical extension of the NumPy library. The mplfinance package, which is great for creating static versions, is built on top of Matplotlib.
To create a candlestick chart using Matplotlib, you can follow these steps:
- Install the mplifinance library, an open-source Python module built on Matplotlib that allows for the creation of financial and stock market visualizations.
- Use the Pandas library to create a DataFrame representing the stock prices.
- Set the width of the candlestick elements.
- Utilize the plt.bar method to plot the up and down stock prices on the chart. The bottom parameter specifies the starting point of each bar.
- Rotate the x-axis tick labels by 45 degrees to the right for better visibility.
- Label the chart with a title, x-label, and y-label.
- Display the chart using plt.show().
Additionally, you can add a grid to your Matplotlib chart to improve readability. This can be achieved by using the grid() function in the Pyplot sublibrary.
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Using the mplfinance module
The mplfinance module is a Python module designed for visualizing financial market data using candlestick charts, which are also known as Japanese candlestick charts. These charts are a popular and widely used technique in financial analysis to visualize the price movement of stocks, derivatives, and other financial instruments.
To plot a Japanese candlestick chart using the mplfinance module in Python, you can follow these steps:
- Import the necessary libraries: `mplfinance`, `pandas`, `numpy`, and `matplotlib.pyplot`.
- Load the stock data from a CSV file using `pd.read_csv()`. The data should include columns for 'Date', 'Open', 'High', 'Low', and 'Close'.
- Parse the 'Date' column as dates and set it as the index of the DataFrame.
- Convert any relevant columns, such as the 'volume' column, to numeric using `pd.to_numeric()`.
- Handle any non-numeric values by replacing them with 0.
- Create a custom style for the plot using `mpf.make_mpf_style()`. You can use the 'default' base style and set the desired font size.
- Create a new figure and set the title, y-axis label, and lower y-axis label using `mpf.plot()`. Pass the data DataFrame, specify the chart type as 'candle', enable volume bars, and set any other desired plot attributes.
- Retrieve the axis objects from the returned list.
- Plot the candlestick chart using the `candlestick_ohlc` function from the `mplfinance.original_flavor` module. Provide the axis object, data values, and any desired formatting options such as width, colors, and alpha values.
- Customize the plot further by adding labels, gridlines, and any other annotations as needed.
Python
Import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
From mplfinance import candlestick_ohlc
Import pandas as pd
Import matplotlib.dates as mpdates
Extracting data for plotting
Df = pd.read_csv('data.csv')
Df = df [['Date', 'Open', 'High', 'Low', 'Close']]
Convert the 'Date' column to a datetime object
Df ['Date'] = pd.to_datetime(df ['Date'])
Apply map function to the 'Date' column
Df ['Date'] = df ['Date'].map(mpdates.date2num)
Creating subplots
Fig, ax = plt.subplots()
Plotting the data
Candlestick_ohlc(ax, df.values, width=0.6, colorup='green', colordown='red', alpha=0.8)
Allowing gridlines
Ax.grid(True)
Setting labels and title
Ax.set_xlabel('Date')
Ax.set_ylabel('Price')
Plt.title('Prices For the Period 01-07-2020 to 15-07-2020')
Formatting date labels
Date_format = mpdates.DateFormatter('%d-%m-%Y')
Ax.xaxis.set_major_formatter(date_format)
Adjusting layout and displaying the plot
Fig.autofmt_xdate()
Fig.tight_layout()
Plt.show()
By following these steps and customizing the code to your specific data and requirements, you can effectively use the mplfinance module to plot Japanese candlestick charts in Python.
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Understanding candlestick attributes
Candlestick charts, also known as Japanese candlestick charts, are a style of financial chart that shows the price movement of stocks, derivatives, and other financial instruments in real-time. They are used to describe the price action during a given time frame, which is usually time on the x-coordinate.
Candlestick charts have four key elements: open, high, low, and close. The open and close refer to the price of a security at the beginning and end of a specific time period, respectively. The high and low refer to the highest and lowest prices reached during that time period. The relationship between the open and close prices determines whether the candlestick is bullish or bearish. If the closing price is higher than the opening price, the candlestick is bullish, indicating upward momentum. Conversely, if the closing price is lower than the opening price, the candlestick is bearish, signalling downward pressure.
The candlestick's colour also provides valuable information about price direction. Typically, a bullish candlestick is represented by the colour green or white, while a bearish candlestick is red or black. The hollow or filled section of the candlestick, known as the "real body" or body, indicates whether the candlestick is hollow (bullish) or filled (bearish). The thin lines extending from the body, called shadows, represent the high and low prices. The top of the upper shadow is the "high", while the bottom of the lower shadow is the "low".
There are several distinct patterns that can form on candlestick charts, each indicating different market sentiments and potential price reversals or trends. For example, a spinning top pattern, characterised by long upper and lower shadows with a small real body, signifies indecision between buyers and sellers. Another pattern is the bullish engulfing pattern, which indicates that buyers are gaining the upper hand. Conversely, a doji candlestick pattern has the same open and close price, reflecting a stalemate between buyers and sellers.
By understanding the attributes and patterns of candlestick charts, traders can make informed decisions and anticipate potential price movements. These charts provide a visual representation of market sentiment and price trends, making them a valuable tool in financial analysis and decision-making.
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Converting to hollow candlesticks
A candlestick chart, also known as a Japanese candlestick chart, is a financial chart that shows the price movement of stocks, derivatives, and other financial instruments in real time. It has four key elements: open, high, low, and close. The boxes represent the spread between the open and close values, and the lines represent the spread between the low and high values.
To convert standard candlesticks into hollow candlesticks, you can use the following approach:
Hollow candlesticks are green when the close is higher than the previous close, and red otherwise. Additionally, the candlesticks are hollow when the close is higher than the open and solid otherwise. This means that if the price at the beginning of the period is higher than the price at the end, it is called a bearish movement (represented by a red, solid candlestick). Conversely, if the opening price is lower than the closing price, the price has increased, which is called a bullish movement (represented by a green, hollow candlestick).
First, import the necessary libraries and load the stock price data from YFinance:
Python
Import pandas as pd
Import plotly.graph_objects as go
Load stock price data from YFinance
Df = pd.read_csv('stock_price_data.csv')
Next, initialize an empty plot with one main subplot and two marginal subplots:
Python
Fig = go.Figure()
Now, you can start converting standard candlesticks into hollow candlesticks by defining the outline and fill colours based on the conditions of hollow candlesticks. You can use the rgba function to define a transparent colour by setting the alpha value (last number) to zero:
Python
Define outline and fill colours for hollow candlesticks
Outline_color = 'green' # For example
Fill_color = rgba(255, 0, 0, 0) # Transparent red
Then, iterate over the rows of your data frame to add each candlestick to your main subplot, specifying the same border and fill colour for each candlestick:
Python
Iterate over the rows of the data frame
For index, row in df.iterrows():
# Add each candlestick to the main subplot
Fig.add_trace(go.Candlestick(x=df ['Date'], open=df ['Open'], high=df ['High'], low=df ['Low'], close=df ['Close'], increasing_line_color=outline_color, decreasing_line_color=outline_color, increasing_fill_color=fill_color, decreasing_fill_color=fill_color))
Finally, display the plot:
Python
Fig.show()
By following these steps, you can create a hollow candlestick chart that provides a clear visualisation of the price movement of the stock, with the colour and fill of the candlesticks indicating whether the price movement was bullish or bearish.
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Frequently asked questions
A Japanese candlestick chart, also known as a candlestick chart, is a financial chart that shows the price movement of stocks, derivatives, and other financial instruments in real-time. It describes the open, high, low, and close prices for a given x-coordinate (usually time).
To plot a Japanese candlestick chart in Python, you can use libraries such as Plotly, Pandas, Matplotlib, or Finplot. Here's an example using Plotly:
```python
import plotly.graph_objects as go
import pandas as pd
df = pd.read_csv('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/plotly/datasets/master/finance-charts-apple.csv')
fig = go.Figure(data=[go.Candlestick(x=df['Date'], open=df['AAPL.Open'], high=df['AAPL.High'], low=df['AAPL.Low'], close=df['AAPL.Close']))
fig.update_layout(xaxis_rangeslider_visible=False)
fig.show()
```
You can customize the appearance of the Japanese candlestick chart by modifying attributes such as the line colours, fill colours, width, and transparency (alpha). For example, you can set the `increasing_line_color` and `decreasing_line_color` attributes to differentiate between increasing and decreasing trends.





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