📊 Price Action·beginner

Higher Low

Also called: hl

A swing low that's higher than the previous swing low — one of the two confirmations of an uptrend.

A higher low is the second half of an uptrend's structure. Each pullback finds support at a level higher than the previous pullback. Combined with higher highs, this is the textbook definition of an uptrend. Higher lows are the buyer's defensive stance on the chart. They show that buyers are not letting price fall as far as it did last time — the floor keeps rising. That's accumulation in motion. As long as higher lows hold, the trend is intact. When a higher low fails (a pullback breaks the previous swing low), it's the first warning that the uptrend may be ending. A subsequent lower high confirms the reversal.

Real trade example

EUR/USD's uptrend in late 2023 showed picture-perfect higher lows at 1.0440, 1.0520, and 1.0640 — each one held cleanly and provided low-risk long entries inside the larger 700-pip move.

Related terms

Higher High

beginner

A swing high that's higher than the previous swing high — one of the two confirmations of an uptrend.

Lower High

beginner

A swing high that's lower than the previous swing high — one of the two confirmations of a downtrend.

Lower Low

beginner

A swing low that's lower than the previous swing low — one of the two confirmations of a downtrend.

Market Structure

intermediate

The framework of swing highs and lows that defines whether a market is trending up, trending down, or consolidating.

Price Channel

beginner

A pair of parallel trendlines that contain price action — buy near the bottom, sell near the top, ride the middle.

Cup and Handle

intermediate

A bullish continuation pattern shaped like a teacup — a rounded bottom followed by a small pullback before a breakout.

← Back to glossary Ask the desk a follow-up →