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Have you ever felt confused staring at candlestick charts, guessing whether the Hang Seng Index trend will rise or fall?
In fact, understanding charts is not that mysterious. You just need to learn one of the most basic and powerful tools—trend lines. They can help you clearly judge whether the market is currently “going up,” “going down,” or “standing still.” This is the first step in making all your investment decisions and the key to saying goodbye to blind guessing.

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To understand charts, you first need to recognize two basic elements: candlestick charts and trend lines. Candlestick charts are the basic building blocks of charts, while trend lines are like a ruler helping you measure market direction. Let’s learn step by step.
Those red and green bars you see on charts are candlestick charts (also called candlestick charts). Each candlestick records price changes over a period, containing four key pieces of information: open, close, high, and low.
Simply put, you can understand it this way:
- Red candlesticks: Represent rises, close higher than open.
- Green candlesticks: Represent falls, close lower than open.
A complete candlestick consists of two parts:
(Note: Placeholder for illustration; replace with image link in actual use)
When you see price lows continuously rising, it means the market may be in an uptrend. At this time, you can draw your first “ruler”—an uptrend line.
The drawing method is very simple: Find at least two successively higher lows and connect them with a straight line.
This line acts like “support”; when price pulls back near this line, it often gains support and continues rising. A clear uptrend line indicates sustained price rises and strong market performance.
Conversely, when you see price highs continuously falling, this is usually a downtrend signal. At this time, you need to draw a downtrend line to confirm direction.
The drawing method is equally intuitive: Find at least two successively lower highs and connect them with a straight line.
This downward-sloping line acts like “resistance,” defining the current Hang Seng Index trend pressure level. When price rebounds and touches this line, it often meets strong resistance and likely turns down. It helps you identify potential risks and avoid blindly buying during downtrends.
Drawing trend lines is just the first step; the real value lies in using them to guide trading decisions. Mastering this “ruler” lets you more clearly measure market “support” and “pressure,” finding potential opportunities and risks.
When you draw a clear uptrend line for the Hang Seng Index trend, this line plays the role of “support level.” You can imagine it as a spring or safety net.
Markets don’t rise straight; there are always brief pullbacks. When price falls from highs and first or second touches this uptrend line, it often gains support and regains upward momentum.
A Basic Trading Idea:
- Confirm Trend: You have drawn a valid uptrend line.
- Wait for Pullback: Be patient, wait for price to pull back near the trend line. Don’t chase highs when price is far from the trend line.
- Look for Signals: When price touches the trend line and shows stopping fall/stabilizing candlestick patterns (e.g., long lower wick candlesticks), this is a potential buying opportunity signal.
This simple strategy helps you avoid emotional chasing highs, letting you operate along the trend at relatively safe positions.
Opposite to uptrends, downtrend lines play the role of “pressure level” or “ceiling.” They tell you the market’s main direction is currently downward.
In downtrends, prices don’t fall straight either; there are brief rebounds. When price rebounds and touches this downtrend line, it usually meets strong resistance and likely turns down again. Therefore, this position is a potential risk point needing vigilance, not a bottom-fishing opportunity.
Advanced Tip: How to Confirm Resistance Validity?
Relying solely on trend lines may not be enough. You can combine other technical indicators for higher judgment accuracy. When price rebounds to the downtrend line, risk signals are stronger if:
- Moving Averages: Price simultaneously approaches 50-day or 200-day moving averages, these averages also form additional resistance.
- Relative Strength Index (RSI): RSI enters overbought area (usually above 70), indicating rebound momentum may soon exhaust.
- Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD): MACD shows bearish crossover (fast line crossing slow line downward), signaling downside momentum may restart.
Combining these tools lets you more confidently judge if rebound is ending, avoiding risks.
Trend lines are not forever valid. When price finally crosses your drawn trend line, this is a very important signal—breakout.
When you apply “breakout vs. false breakout” to the HSI or Hong Kong-listed names, it helps to anchor your chart read to checkable data: whether the close is firmly outside the line, whether volume expands on the break, and whether the key level is retested rather than instantly rejected. Instead of relying on a single chart view, you can use BiyaPay’s stock information lookup to cross-check live quotes, key levels, and trading activity; and if you’re comparing assets across different quote currencies, BiyaPay’s fiat FX converter & comparison tool can standardize the reference currency so FX doesn’t blur your P&L read.
On execution, a safer workflow is to define a watchlist and triggers first, then act only when conditions are met. You can review the order interface via BiyaPay’s trading entry and complete registration so your account settings and risk preferences stay consistent for later post-trade review. If compliance signals matter for your decision process, the latest disclosures can be referenced on the official site, including updates related to registrations such as US MSB and NZ FSP.
However, you need to be especially wary of a market trap—false breakout.
False breakout is a market “deception” behavior. Price appears to strongly break the trend line but soon reverses back to original trend direction, catching all breakout chasers off guard. This is usually when inexperienced traders impulsively enter based on feeling and get “harvested” by professional forces in reverse.
So, how to distinguish valid true breakouts from deceptive false ones? You can focus on these features:
| Feature | Valid Breakout | False Breakout |
|---|---|---|
| Momentum | Strong force on breakout, candlestick bodies usually long. | Hesitant on breakout, candlestick bodies short or long wicks. |
| Volume | Accompanied by significantly amplified volume, indicating high market participation. | Volume unchanged or shrinking, indicating lack of support. |
| Price Action | Price stabilizes beyond trend line after breakout. | Price soon returns within trend line after breakout. |
| Confirmation | Wait for candlestick close clearly beyond trend line before judging. | Price briefly breaks intraday but closes back in original position. |
Remember This Key Point: Volume is the Touchstone for Breakouts
Analyzing volume is core to evaluating trend line breakout validity. A breakout without volume support has greatly reduced reliability.
- High Volume Breakout: When price breaks trend line, if volume far exceeds recent average (e.g., 50% or more higher), this indicates strong market force pushing new direction, greatly increasing breakout authenticity.
- Low Volume Breakout: If volume ordinary or below average on breakout, this indicates market lacks enthusiasm for new direction, likely a false breakout—you need high vigilance.
Therefore, when you see a trend line break, don’t act immediately. Spend a little more time observing volume and next candlestick trend, waiting for clearer confirmation signals—this helps you filter most market noise and traps.

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Theory knowledge mastered, now time to hands-on. This section will guide you step by step to open charting software and draw your first trend line on the real Hang Seng Index chart. You will find this much simpler than imagined.
No matter which charting software you use, line drawing is the most basic feature. Usually, you can find an icon like “pen” or “line” in the sidebar or top toolbar of the candlestick chart interface.
Quick Start Tips:
After opening line drawing tool, you usually see several very practical auxiliary functions; recommend prioritizing enabling:
- Snap Function: This function is magical. It lets your mouse automatically snap to candlestick highs or lows, ensuring precise line start/end points.
- Continuous Drawing: Allows drawing multiple lines at once, convenient for analyzing different trends simultaneously.
- Multi-Timeframe Display: Lets your drawn lines display on daily, weekly, etc., different timeframe charts.
Familiar with these tools, you can start your analyst journey.
Now, let’s open the Hang Seng Index daily candlestick chart and complete a practical exercise together.
To make your trend lines more professional and reliable, you must note the following two key details. Many beginners draw invalid trend lines precisely because they ignore them.
Congratulations! Mastering trend lines is your decisive step from “blind guessing” to “analysis.” Though simple, it is the cornerstone of technical analysis. Act now, open your charting software, draw your first trend line on the Hang Seng Index trend, feel the certainty of measuring the market with a “ruler.”
Important Risk Warning
Trend lines are not 100% accurate “crystal balls.” As investor Fred McAllen emphasized: “Always use stops to protect your capital.” In actual operations, you must combine volume changes to confirm trend strength, and strictly execute risk management:
- Stop-Loss Orders: Preset prices for automatic close to limit losses.
- Position Sizing Adjustment: Adjust single-trade fund amount to avoid excessive risk.
This indicates the market may be in sideways consolidation with no clear direction. The best strategy at this time is patience, waiting for price to break out clear trend. Don’t force drawing lines to avoid wrong judgments.
Two points determine a line, but third point touch is valid confirmation of the trend. The more times a trend line is touched and validated, the higher its reliability and stronger market consensus.
In sideways markets, you can draw two horizontal lines connecting highs (resistance) and lows (support), forming a “box.” Price breaking box upper/lower boundaries is also an important trading signal.
Absolutely not. Trend lines are basic tools but not omnipotent. You must combine volume to confirm breakout validity and always set stops. Treat them as analysis tools, not future-predicting crystal balls.
*This article is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from BiyaPay or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.
We make no representations, warranties or warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness or timeliness of the contents of this publication.



