What is 52 Week High-Low?

Key Highlights

• The highest and lowest prices at which a security has traded during the specified period that equals one year are considered technical indicators called 52-week high and low.
• The daily closing price of the security is used to determine a 52-week high or low.
• The 52-week high is usually the resistance level, followed by the 52-week low as a support level for traders who want to make trading decisions.

52-Week High and Low Meaning

In order to predict the current value and future price movement of a stock, traders use 52-week high and low levels as technical indicators. When shares are at the upper or lower end of their 52-week price range, traders usually pay more attention to them. Generally, this range runs from a low of 52 weeks to a high of 52 weeks. These levels are determined by the stock's closing price every day.

A stock could go above its 52-week high during the day, but it can close below the previous 52-week high, going undiscovered. This also happens when a share hits an intraday new 52-week low but fails to close below it.

There's a very strong chance for significant gains, as shown by the 52-week high. This often encourages investors to buy more of the company's securities. The results can be quite rewarding, as risky as this may seem.

How does 52-Week High and Low Work?

The 52-week high and low shown above helps determine whether the trend will continue or reverse itself, as described below.

1. Trend Continuation Other traders choose to buy or sell when a new 52-week high or low hits or the stock breaks down from these levels. One should also take into account the number of shares traded when a share price hits its 52-week high or low. As the stock moves past a high or low point, trading volume frequently rises before falling.

In particular, the 52-week highs and lows are closely watched by momentum investors. In the short term, they are predicting a continuation of recent winners and losers in the stock market. This is called "relative strength investing."

2. Reversal As the 52-week high is seen as a resistance level, traders expect the price to decline in the future when the stock price approaches and closes around this level. Consequently, many traders book profits and assume that prices will recover from resistance levels.

This is also true for a 52-week low when traders expect it to be a support level and rise. The approach of trade reversals could be a source of profit. Traders should also use additional indicators and data relating to volumes. To forecast the reversal patterns, further technical indicators can be used, e.g., descending wedge and rounding bottom.

Uses of 52-Week High and Low The various uses of 52-week high and low are given in the below points.

1. The concept of a 52-week high is used in many ways, such as determining the entry or exit point for each stock, the level of resistance assigned to security, and so on. The opportunity for the investor to make a sound investment decision based on sufficient information, such as where the market is heading and even its stock's position.

2. As a means to lock in gains, stock traders and institutions apply the 52-week highs for placing profit orders.

3. These fluctuations also indicate to the investor that the stock has reached its peak and may not rise further in the near future. This means that the fact that the price reached a 52-week high on the intraday and then closed negative on the same day indicates that the price is unlikely to rise in the near term.

Conclusion

A 52-week high, as the name suggests, is the highest price a security has traded over 52 weeks, i.e., a year. This is a technical indicator that can be used to assess the current price of securities. In order to predict future movements, the 52-week high is also used. A 52-week high represents bullish sentiment on the market. If you are a momentum investor or not, looking at the stock's 52-week high and low prices can be useful.