Moving average 200 on weekly/monthly charts (Kite)
Moving average with 200 periods is a popular technical indicator. On daily charts it averages 200 trading days (~10 months). On weekly and monthly charts, it represents materially different lookbacks: weekly = ~4 years, monthly = ~17 years.
This article explains the computation and the practical considerations.
Period meaning on each timeframe
A 200-period MA on:
- 1-min chart: ~200 minutes (~3.3 hours of trading).
- Hourly: ~200 hours (~30 trading days, ~6 weeks).
- Daily: 200 trading days (~10 months).
- Weekly: 200 weeks (~3.85 years).
- Monthly: 200 months (~16.67 years).
Data history requirement
For a 200-period MA on monthly chart, you need at least 200 months (16.67 years) of historical data. For most Indian stocks, this is available; for newer listings (e.g., post-2010 IPOs), 200-month MA may not be computable until enough history exists.
Common interpretation
The 200-day MA is the canonical long-term trend indicator. Price above 200-day MA = bullish long-term trend; price below = bearish.
On weekly: 200-week MA represents ~4-year trend, useful for cyclical analysis.
On monthly: 200-month MA represents multi-cycle, ultra-long-term trend (decadal).
Common mistake
Users sometimes assume “200” is universal. On a monthly chart, 200-month MA covers 17 years of data; on a daily chart, 200-day MA covers 10 months. Same indicator, very different timeframes.
Adjust the period to your analysis horizon:
- For long-term trend on daily: 200-day works.
- For long-term trend on weekly: 50-week (~1 year) is often preferred.
- For long-term trend on monthly: 24-month (~2 years) is often preferred.
The 200-period default is appropriate for daily; less appropriate for higher timeframes unless you specifically want 4-year or 17-year smoothing.
Computation on Kite
Kite computes MAs over the available data history. If not enough history exists for the specified period, the indicator shows partial / no values for older periods.
See also
- How to add indicators on Kite charts
- How to use Supertrend on Kite
- How to use VWAP on Kite
- How to use Bollinger Bands on Kite
- How to use RSI on Kite
- How to use MACD on Kite
- How to use Fibonacci retracements on Kite
- How to identify breakouts on Kite charts
- How to overlay indicator on ChartIQ
- OHLC differs daily vs hourly
- Continuous-chart data for futures
- Historical-candle values change after refresh
- Historical data for expired F&O on Kite
- Moving average
- Exponential moving average (EMA)
- Simple moving average (SMA)
- Kite chart types explained
- Kite TradingView vs ChartIQ engine
- Kite (Zerodha)
- Zerodha
External references
References
- Zerodha support documentation on moving average computation.
- Varsity technical analysis module.