What Is a Volume Price Trend Indicator?

Volume-price trend (VPT), sometimes known as price-volume trend, combines price and volume in the market to form a hybrid trading indicator of the two variables. The basic idea behind the indicator is to multiply the market’s volume by the percentage change in the price over a given interval (usually daily). If price declines, the indicator’s value goes lower due to the negative value. If price increases, the indicator’s value goes higher. The volume price trend (VPT) indicator helps determine a security’s price direction and strength of price change.

How to interpret Volume Price Trend Indicator

Understanding the Volume Price Trend Indicator (VPT)

The volume price trend indicator is used to determine the balance between a security’s demand and supply. The percentage change in the share price trend shows the relative supply or demand of a particular security, while volume indicates the force behind the trend. The VPT indicator is similar to the on-balance volume (OBV) indicator in that it measures cumulative volume and provides traders with information about a security’s money flow.

Interpretation of VPT

Signal Line Crossovers: A signal line, which is just a moving average of the indicator, can be applied and used to generate trading signals. For example, a trader may buy a stock when the VPT line crosses above its signal line and sell when the VPT line passes below its signal line.

Divergence: Traders can use the VPT indicator to spot technical divergence. Divergence occurs when the indicator makes a higher high or a lower low, but the security’s price makes a lower high or a higher low. Traders should place a stop-loss order above the most recent swing high or below the most recent swing low to minimize risk.