Previous day high and low on TradingView: 3 ways compared
Yesterday's high and low are on almost every day trader's chart. You can draw them by hand, add a simple script, or let Basics draw them — and the differences matter most on futures and CFD charts, where index and futures levels sit at different prices. Here is how the three compare.
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Part of Basics
Free TradingView indicator with all session, week and month levels for index, futures and CFD charts.
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Why the previous day's high and low matter
Yesterday's high and low are where buyers and sellers stopped the day before. Price often reacts when it comes back to them — or moves on quickly once it breaks through. That is why almost every day trader has them on the chart. The question is: which high and low, and at which price?
- Index or future? The S&P 500 or DAX index is only calculated during the stock market's hours; ES and FDAX trade almost around the clock. Their highs and lows are different levels.
- Which price? A future trades above or below its index — the cash-future difference. The index's high is at another number on your futures chart.
- Which contract? On a micro future or a CFD the candles can differ slightly from the main future, where the reference levels form — see main future.
Three ways compared
✓ does it ~ partly or with extra work ✕ does not
| Compared | Drawing by hand | A typical previous-day script | Basics free |
|---|---|---|---|
| Which high and low | ~Whatever you pick on the chart | ~The chart's own candles | ✓Both: the index's (regular trading hours) and the future's (the whole futures day) |
| Index levels on a futures chart | ✕You work out the price yourself | ✕Not shown: only the future's own high and low | ✓Converted to the future's price |
| On a mini, micro or nano future | ~Redraw them from the main future | ✕The small contract's own candles, which can spike | ✓The main future's levels, where most of the volume trades |
| On a CFD | ~Depends on the broker's candles | ~The CFD's own candles and hours | ✓The index's levels as they are, the future's converted |
| Every new day | ✕Draw them again | ✓Automatic | ✓Automatic, at the session times of that market |
| Also close, open, pre-market, week and month | ✕Draw each one | ✕Usually not, or as separate scripts | ✓In one indicator, each with its own on/off switch |
| After a contract roll | ✕Old lines at the old contract's price | ~Mixed contracts | ✓Both versions available (b-adj) |
| Price | ~Free, but takes time every day | ✓Mostly free | ✓Free |
"A typical previous-day script" describes how most free scripts of this kind work: they read the high and low from the candles of the chart you have open. Some do more; check the description of the one you use.
What Basics draws
- PsH / PsL index — the index's high and low of the previous session, regular trading hours only.
- PsH / PsL future — the main future's high and low of the previous futures day, overnight included.
- PsC index and PsS future — yesterday's closing price of the index and the futures settlement.
- And the levels around them: the pre-market range, the open, last week and last month.
All of them at the right price on index, futures and CFD charts. The full list: every Basics element.
Frequently asked questions
Does TradingView show the previous day's high and low by itself?
Not as lines on an intraday chart. You can draw them by hand or add an indicator. Basics adds them — and the other reference levels — for index, futures and CFD charts.
Should I use the index's or the future's previous high and low?
Both are watched. The index's high and low only cover the stock market's hours; the future's include the overnight session. On a futures chart Basics shows both, each at the right price.
Is Basics free?
Yes. Basics is published on TradingView and free to use; so is Untested Levels.
Which markets?
Nasdaq-100, S&P 500, Dow, Russell 2000, DAX, FTSE 100 and AEX — the index, the futures (main, mini, micro, nano) and CFDs. See supported tickers.
Get the previous day's high and low at the right price
Basics is free on TradingView. Add it to any supported chart — the previous high and low of the index and the future appear by themselves.