OBV API — Volume Confirmation of Price
On Balance Volume tracks cumulative buying vs selling pressure. Use it to confirm breakouts or spot divergence vs price.
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What is the OBV API?
On Balance Volume is a cumulative indicator that adds volume on up-days and subtracts volume on down-days. When OBV trends up alongside price, the move is volume-confirmed — institutions are buying. When price makes new highs but OBV fails to follow, it signals bearish divergence — the rally lacks conviction. TickAtlas pre-calculates OBV from live broker terminal data so your strategy gets the cumulative value without maintaining a running volume sum.
One Request. Instant Data.
curl -X GET \
"https://tickatlas.com/v1/indicator?symbol=EURUSD&indicator=OBV&timeframe=H1" \
-H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"Why Use TickAtlas?
Pre-Calculated, Sub-100ms
Indicator values are computed server-side on every new candle. Your app queries the result — no TA library, no candle history needed.
7 Timeframes
M1, M5, M15, M30, H1, H4, D1 — the same endpoint serves scalpers and position traders alike.
Forex, Crypto, Commodities
EURUSD, GBPUSD, XAUUSD, BTCUSD, USDJPY — data available for all symbols active on connected broker terminals.
Plug into any stack
- ChatGPT Custom GPTs
- Claude Tools
- Python / pandas
- Node.js
- Discord bots
- Slack webhooks
- n8n
- Zapier
- Google Sheets
Volume Conviction in One Request
OBV key facts
- Cumulative — the absolute value is less important than the trend direction
- Use history endpoint to compare OBV trend vs price trend over time
- Most powerful on H4 and D1 — volume noise is smoothed by higher timeframes
- Works best on crypto (BTCUSD) and futures-derived price feeds where tick volume is reliable
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does OBV return a large cumulative number like 184,250,340?
OBV is a cumulative sum — it adds or subtracts the full period volume on each candle based on whether the close was up or down. The absolute value is not meaningful in isolation; what matters is whether OBV is trending up, down, or diverging from price.
How do I detect OBV divergence?
Use GET /v1/indicator/history with indicator=OBV to retrieve a time series. Compare the OBV trend direction to the price trend direction over the same window. If price makes higher highs but OBV makes lower highs, that's bearish divergence.
Is OBV reliable on Forex symbols where volume is tick-based?
broker tick volume is tick volume (number of price updates), not actual transaction volume. This is a known limitation. OBV is most reliable on crypto symbols (BTCUSD) and instruments with exchange-reported volume. For Forex, OBV still has utility as a relative indicator but should be treated as a directional proxy.
What timeframe is best for OBV?
H4 and D1 produce the cleanest OBV trends. M1 and M5 OBV is very noisy due to high tick frequency. For breakout confirmation, H1 is a good balance — you get volume context while avoiding excessive noise.
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