# 52-week high and low > The 52-week high and low are the highest and lowest prices of the last 252 trading sessions, with companion fields giving today's close as a percentage distance from each extreme. Canonical: https://patternsradar.com/learn/52-week-high-low `high_52w` and `low_52w` are the highest high and lowest low of the last 252 sessions — a trading year. The distance fields save the arithmetic: `pct_from_52w_high` is how far the close sits below the yearly high, expressed as a negative percentage (a stock 5% under its high reads -5), and `pct_from_52w_low` is the distance above the yearly low as a positive percentage. The high side is breakout and momentum territory. A stock at a fresh 52-week high has no holder from the past year sitting on a loss waiting to exit even — no overhead supply. `close within 3% of high_52w` finds names coiling under the level a few days before the breakout candle; `pct_from_52w_high > -10` is the standard momentum condition that a leader has not rolled over. The low side is the damage report: near the yearly low with volume rising is where capitulation and basing get sorted from continued decline. The honest caveats: proximity to a high is not a signal by itself — most scans here add a volume or trend condition, because a drift to the highs on no interest tends to fail back. Both extremes are anchored to single prints from up to a year ago, so a stock can 'break out' merely because an old spike aged out of the window. And these fields need 252 sessions of history, so recent listings will not carry them. ## In Sift Written as `high_52w, low_52w — prices; pct_from_52w_high — negative %; pct_from_52w_low — positive %`. A working scan — Coiling just under the yearly high with the long trend intact: ```sift where close within 3% of high_52w and close > sma(200) ``` 1 of the 500 most-traded NSE stocks match today, as of 2026-08-20. ## Scans that use it - [Within 3% of the 52-week high](https://patternsradar.com/screener/near-52-week-high.md): Coiling just under the highs. Often a better entry than the breakout candle itself. - [One-year leaders](https://patternsradar.com/screener/one-year-leaders.md): Up more than 50% over a year and still within 10% of the high — momentum that has not rolled over. - [Within 5% of the 52-week low](https://patternsradar.com/screener/near-52-week-low.md): Sitting near the yearly low on rising volume — basing, or still falling. - [Volatility contraction near highs](https://patternsradar.com/screener/volatility-contraction.md): Coiled within 5% of the 52-week high with Bollinger width under 0.08 — the VCP shape, as a scan. - [Volume dry-up near highs](https://patternsradar.com/screener/volume-dry-up.md): Holding within 5% of the 52-week high on barely half its normal volume — supply running out. - [Bearish engulfing near the highs](https://patternsradar.com/screener/bearish-engulfing-resistance.md): A bearish engulfing candle within 3% of the 52-week high — a rejection where it counts. - [Banks near 52-week highs](https://patternsradar.com/screener/banks-near-highs.md): Banking stocks within 3% of their 52-week high — the market's most-watched industry at its strongest. ## Common questions ### Is buying at a 52-week high a good idea? The case for it is real: nobody who bought in the past year is underwater, so there is no trapped supply overhead, and relative strength tends to persist. The case against is that highs made on thin volume fail back often. The scans here pair the level with a volume condition for exactly that reason — and the hit-rate replay lets you check the claim. ### Why is pct_from_52w_high negative? Because the close can only be at or below the 52-week high, the distance from it is expressed as a negative percentage: a stock 5% under its high reads -5, and one at the high reads 0. A condition like pct_from_52w_high > -10 therefore means within 10% of the yearly high. ### How many trading days is 52 weeks? These fields use 252 sessions, the standard trading-year count for Indian and most global markets after weekends and holidays. So the 52-week high is precisely the highest high of the last 252 daily bars — and stocks with less than 252 sessions of history do not have the field at all.