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What is a candle close?

In one line: A candle close is the last price traded when a candle's time period ends. It sets the top or bottom of the candle's body.

Trading glossary · Updated 2026-10-21

A simple example

On a 1-hour chart, each Candlestick covers one hour. Say the 10:00 candle opens at 100.00, rises to 101.20, dips to 99.80, and at 10:59:59 the last trade is 100.90.

The close is 100.90. The body runs from 100.00 to 100.90. The high and low, 101.20 and 99.80, are the Wicks.

Until the hour ends, that candle is still "live". Its body can change shape many times.

Body close vs wick

Say Resistance sits at 101.00, the last place price turned down.

• Wick through, close below: price poked to 101.20 but closed at 100.90. Buyers couldn't hold it. Under our rule, this does not count as a break.
• Body close above: the next candle closes at 101.40. Now the body is past the level. That counts.

This is the core of how we read a Breakout vs a Fakeout. Only a candle body closing past a level counts. Wicks don't.

Why it matters

The close is the price buyers and sellers agreed on when time ran out. A wick shows where price visited. The close shows where it stayed.

Waiting for the close filters out many quick spikes that reverse. You'll enter a little later, but with more information.

A common mistake

Acting before the candle closes. At 10:40 the candle may look like a clean break. By 10:59 it can snap back and leave only a wick. Decide on closed candles.

Also check which Timeframe you're using. A 5-minute close above a level is weaker than a 4-hour close above it. More in breakout vs fakeout.

Questions