How-to How to RSI Kite charts Zerodha technical indicators momentum

How to use RSI on Kite

From WebNotes, a public knowledge base. Last updated 17 May 2026. Reading time ~7 min. Level: Beginner.

Key facts

Indicator	Relative Strength Index (RSI), a momentum oscillator developed by J. Welles Wilder in 1978, scaled 0 to 100
Default parameters	Period 14 (Wilder's original specification, and Kite's default)
Threshold conventions	70 / 30 are the classic overbought / oversold lines; 80 / 20 are used in stronger trends; 60 / 40 in range-bound markets
Engines	Available on both ChartIQ and TradingView engines on Kite web and mobile

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a momentum oscillator developed by J. Welles Wilder in 1978 and now one of the most widely-used technical indicators across global retail trading. RSI is built into Kite charts on both the ChartIQ and TradingView engines, with Wilder’s original 14-period default. Indian retail traders use RSI for two main purposes: identifying potentially overextended price moves (overbought or oversold conditions) and spotting divergences between price and momentum that often precede reversals.

RSI scales from 0 to 100. The textbook interpretation, the one most traders learn first, is that values above 70 mean “overbought” and values below 30 mean “oversold”. This interpretation is correct in spirit but commonly misapplied: in strong trending markets, RSI can sit above 70 for extended periods without the trend reversing, and oversold readings in a downtrend can persist similarly. The more durable use of RSI is divergence analysis, where the indicator and price move in opposite directions and the indicator’s signal often anticipates the eventual price reaction.

The walk-through

1. Open a chart on Kite

Log into Kite at kite.zerodha.com or on the Kite mobile app. From your marketwatch, tap or click the scrip you want to chart. Select Chart to open the chart canvas. Pick the timeframe you intend to use: 5-minute or 15-minute for intraday, 1-hour for short swing, daily for positional.

For broader context on Kite’s two charting engines and feature set, see Kite charts .

2. Open the indicator panel

On Kite web, click the Indicators button in the chart toolbar (top of the chart canvas). On Kite mobile, tap the fx or indicator icon.

In the search box, type RSI or Relative Strength Index. The indicator appears under momentum oscillators.

3. Add RSI

Tap or click RSI to apply it. The indicator loads in a separate sub-pane below the price chart (rather than overlaid on the price). The default configuration is period 14, with 70 and 30 horizontal threshold lines marked on the sub-pane.

The RSI plot itself is a single line that oscillates between 0 and 100 based on the ratio of average gains to average losses over the configured period.

4. Confirm or adjust the period

The default of 14 is Wilder’s original specification and remains the most widely-used setting. Adjustment is done in the indicator settings (gear icon next to the indicator’s name):

Shorter periods (7, 9) make RSI more responsive. The oscillator reaches overbought/oversold zones more frequently. Useful on shorter timeframes (1-hour, 30-minute intraday) but produces more false signals.
Longer periods (21, 25) smooth the line. Fewer crossings of the 70/30 lines, but the signals that do trigger tend to be more meaningful. Used by some swing and positional traders.
The 14 default is a good starting point that aligns with the bulk of academic and trading literature on RSI.

You can also customise the threshold levels (70/30 by default) and the plot colours from the same settings panel.

5. Read overbought/oversold zones

The textbook interpretation:

RSI above 70: the instrument is “overbought”, meaning prices have risen too far too fast in the recent window. May signal a pause or correction.
RSI below 30: the instrument is “oversold”, meaning prices have fallen too far too fast. May signal a pause or bounce.

Two caveats matter more than the thresholds themselves:

Strong trends override the thresholds: in a powerful uptrend, RSI can sit above 70 for days or weeks without the trend reversing. The “overbought” reading in that context is not a sell signal; it is confirmation that momentum remains strong. The same applies in reverse for sustained downtrends.
Adjust thresholds to the market context: traders in trending markets often use 80/20 instead of 70/30 to require a more extreme reading before flagging exhaustion. In range-bound markets, 60/40 is sometimes used to make the indicator more sensitive.

The 70/30 thresholds are inputs to your trading decision, not automatic buy and sell signals.

6. Watch for divergences

The more durable use of RSI is divergence analysis, where the price and the RSI move in opposite directions over a comparable window:

Bullish divergence: price makes a lower low but RSI makes a higher low. The price is still falling but the momentum decline has slowed. Often precedes a bottoming process or a meaningful bounce.
Bearish divergence: price makes a higher high but RSI makes a lower high. The price is still rising but momentum has weakened. Often precedes a top or material pullback.

Divergences are stronger signals than threshold crossings, particularly when:

The divergence is on a higher timeframe (daily or weekly).
The divergence forms over multiple swings rather than a single isolated comparison.
Volume confirms the indicator (e.g., declining volume on the price-extreme that forms the divergence).

7. Combine with price action or other indicators

RSI alone is not a complete trading system. The most reliable use is as one of two or three confirming inputs:

Support and resistance: an RSI oversold reading at a major support level is far more actionable than an oversold reading mid-trend.
Trend filter: many traders use a higher-timeframe RSI (e.g., daily RSI) as a directional filter and only act on lower-timeframe RSI signals (e.g., 1-hour) that align with it.
Volume: low-volume divergences are weak; high-volume divergences are strong.
MACD: simultaneous RSI and MACD divergences are stronger than either alone. See how to use MACD on Kite .
Supertrend: pairing RSI overbought/oversold reads with a Supertrend flip provides a momentum-and-trend combined signal.

What trips people up

Treating 70/30 as automatic sell/buy: a single crossing of the threshold is the weakest possible RSI signal. Strong trends will keep RSI in extreme zones for extended periods.
Ignoring divergences: the divergence signal is usually more reliable than the threshold crossing, but many beginners focus only on the threshold.
Using 14-period RSI on 1-minute intraday charts: too noisy. Either lengthen the period or move to a higher timeframe.
Confusing relative strength (the concept) with the indicator: RSI compares an instrument to its own past performance, not to a benchmark. The market-side phrase “relative strength” usually refers to a stock’s performance versus an index, which is a different measure.
Comparing RSI values across instruments: a stock with high baseline volatility will hit RSI extremes more often than a low-volatility stock. The same RSI value carries different meaning across instruments.
Not validating in backtest: visually-identified RSI signals on a historical chart are biased by hindsight. For a real assessment, backtest the strategy systematically (using Streak or the Kite Connect historical API).
Ignoring the timeframe context: a daily RSI oversold reading in a weekly downtrend is different from a daily RSI oversold reading in a weekly uptrend.

Kite charts for the broader charting subsystem.
How to use Supertrend on Kite , how to use VWAP on Kite , how to use MACD on Kite for indicator pairings.
How to add indicators on Kite charts for the general indicator-management flow.
Streak for systematic backtesting of RSI strategies.
Kite Connect API for programmatic access to historical data.

External references

References

J. Welles Wilder Jr., “New Concepts in Technical Trading Systems” (Trend Research, 1978): the original specification of the Relative Strength Index.
Zerodha Varsity Module 2: Technical Analysis, zerodha.com/varsity, accessed May 2026.
Zerodha Kite chart documentation, support.zerodha.com, accessed May 2026.
Kite Connect historical data API documentation, kite.trade/docs, accessed May 2026.
ChartIQ indicator library reference, chartiq.com, accessed May 2026.
TradingView Charting Library indicator documentation, tradingview.com/charting-library, accessed May 2026.

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The WebNotes Editorial Team covers Indian capital markets, payments infrastructure and retail investor procedures. Every article is fact-checked against primary sources, principally SEBI circulars and master directions, NPCI specifications and the official support documentation published by the intermediary in question. Drafts go through a second-pair-of-eyes review and a separate compliance read before publication, and revisions are tracked against the SEBI and NPCI rule changes referenced in the methodology section.

Last reviewed: 17 May 2026
Conflicts of interest: WebNotes is independent. No relationship with any broker, registrar or bank named in this article.