CFDs are complex financial instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. CFDs are complex financial instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
On-balance volume (OBV) definition
What is on-balance volume (OBV)?
On-balance volume (OBV) is a form of technical analysis which enables traders to make predictions about future price movements based on the asset’s previous trading volume. OBV is mostly used in shares trading, because the volume has an especially large influence on the way share prices move.
Learn about how to trade stocks with IG
Find out more about share trading, including how to build a trading plan and open a position.
Trading volume is the amount that an asset has been traded during a given time period. Traders who use OBV believe that a sharp increase in trading volume, without a reciprocal increase in the asset’s price, will cause the market price to suddenly increase or decrease.
How to calculate on-balance volume
OBV is a cumulative result, which means that it is effectively a running total of an asset’s trading volume. The OBV is the total volume, and it accounts for both positive and negative changes in an asset’s trading volume.
A simplified version of the OBV formula is as follows:
- If the closing price today is higher than it was yesterday, you’d add the current trading volume to the previous day’s OBV to get the new OBV figure
- If the closing price today is lower than it was yesterday, you’d subtract the current trading volume from the previous day’s OBV to get the new OBV figure
- If the closing price today equals yesterday’s closing price, then the current OBV is the same as yesterday’s OBV
Example of on-balance volume
Let’s look at the table below as an example of how to calculate OBV using the OBV formula.
| Closing price | Daily volume | Add/subtract | On balance volume | |
| Day 1 | $100 | 10,000 | 10,000 | |
| Day 2 | $105 | 14,000 | Add | 24,000 |
| Day 3 | $110 | 12,000 | Add | 36,000 |
| Day 4 | $102 | 10,000 | Subtract | 26,000 |
| Day 5 | $99 | 6000 | Subtract | 20,000 |
| Day 6 | $120 | 27,000 | Add | 47,000 |
| Day 7 | $117 | 17,000 | Subtract | 30,000 |
| Day 8 | $114 | 14,000 | Subtract | 16,000 |
| Day 9 | $110 | 10,000 | Subtract | 6000 |
| Day 10 | $102 | 8000 | Subtract | -2000 |
On day one, the OBV is simply the daily trading volume. For day two however, you can calculate the OBV by seeing whether the closing price is higher than it was on day one. In this case, the closing price has risen by $5 on day two. As a result, the OBV can be calculated by adding the daily trading volume of day two to that of day one – 10,000 to 14,000 – which would give you 24,000 as the OBV for day two.
If the closing price is less than the previous day – as shown in the example on day four compared to day three – then you would subtract the daily volume of day four from the OBV of day three. This means that you would take 10,000 (the trading volume for day four) from 36,000 (the OBV on day three), which gives an OBV for day four of 26,000.
Build your trading knowledge
Discover how to trade with IG Academy, using our series of interactive courses, webinars and seminars.
Help and support
Get answers about your account or our services.
Or contact us on +971 (0) 4 559 2104 or helpdesk.ae@ig.com.
Our office is open 5 days a week, Monday to Friday from 8am to 7pm (Dubai time). Support line is available 24hrs a day, 7 days a week, except for Saturday from 2am to 12noon (Dubai time).*
* Our hours are based on UK hours, converted to UAE time zone. Due to UK clock changes during the year, the time difference between UK and UAE varies by 3 or 4 hours accordingly.
