# SMA (Simple Moving Average)

> The simple moving average is the unweighted mean of a stock's closing prices over a chosen number of sessions, smoothing daily noise into a single line that shows where price has been trading.

Canonical: https://patternsradar.com/learn/sma

The SMA answers one question with no cleverness at all: what has the average close been over the last N sessions? Every bar in the window counts equally, so a 50-day SMA is simply the sum of fifty closes divided by fifty. That equal weighting is both its virtue and its cost — it is transparent and hard to misread, but a price shock from seven weeks ago moves today's 50-day line exactly as much as yesterday's close does.

On end-of-day NSE data the standard periods carry the standard meanings: the 20-day tracks the swing trend, the 50-day the intermediate one, and the 200-day is the line many institutional mandates treat as the boundary between a holding and a problem. Traders screen for price above a rising 200-day as a health check, for the 50 crossing the 200 as a regime marker, and for the averages stacked in order as the cheapest definition of a trend in good shape.

The failure mode is lag, and it is not small. An average of the last 200 closes is, by construction, a statement about the past — by the time price crosses it, much of the move has happened, and in a sideways market price saws back and forth across every SMA, generating crosses that mean nothing. The SMA locates the trend; it is a poor tool for timing entries into one.

Against its siblings, the SMA is the reference everything else is measured from. The EMA answers the same question with more weight on recent bars; the WMA, HMA and TEMA each trade some smoothness for less lag. In Sift the SMA is also the only indicator that accepts any period — sma(37) works — where the others are limited to their precomputed ones.

## In Sift

Written as `sma(20) — any period accepted; 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 precomputed`. A working scan — stocks with price above stacked 20, 50 and 200-day averages — a trend in good order:

```sift
where close > sma(20) > sma(50) > sma(200)
```

1 of the 500 most-traded NSE stocks match today, as of 2026-08-20.

## Scans that use it

- [Volume breakout](https://patternsradar.com/screener/volume-breakout.md): Twice normal volume with price up more than 3% — something changed today.
- [Crossing above the Ichimoku base](https://patternsradar.com/screener/ichimoku-breakout.md): Price reclaiming the Kijun-sen while the medium-term trend still points up.
- [Aroon uptrend](https://patternsradar.com/screener/aroon-breakout.md): Aroon-up above 70 with Aroon-down below 30 — a new high made recently and no new low in sight.
- [OBV at a six-month high](https://patternsradar.com/screener/obv-new-high.md): Cumulative volume flow at a new high while the trend holds — accumulation leading price.
- [RSI oversold turning up](https://patternsradar.com/screener/rsi-oversold-turn.md): RSI crossing back above 30 in the last three sessions while the stock still holds its 200-day average — a pullback, not a collapse.
- [RSI overbought](https://patternsradar.com/screener/rsi-overbought.md): RSI above 70 while the stock is still trending — stretched, and worth knowing about either way.
- [Golden cross](https://patternsradar.com/screener/golden-cross.md): The 50-day average crossing up through the 200-day.
- [Death cross](https://patternsradar.com/screener/death-cross.md): The 50-day average crossing down through the 200-day.
- [Bounce off the 200-day](https://patternsradar.com/screener/bounce-off-200.md): Yesterday closed below the 200-day average, today closed back above it.
- [Williams %R oversold](https://patternsradar.com/screener/williams-oversold.md): Williams %R below -80 while the 200-day still holds — Chartink's oversold staple.
- [Money flow oversold](https://patternsradar.com/screener/mfi-oversold.md): Money Flow Index under 20 — RSI's volume-weighted cousin, at an extreme.
- [Heikin-Ashi turns green](https://patternsradar.com/screener/heikin-ashi-turn.md): The first green Heikin-Ashi candle after a red one, on rising volume.
- [RSI reclaiming 50](https://patternsradar.com/screener/rsi-50-reclaim.md): RSI crossing back above its midline in a stock that never lost its long-term trend.
- [CCI oversold turn](https://patternsradar.com/screener/cci-oversold-turn.md): CCI back above −100 within the last two sessions, in a stock still above its 200-day.
- [Stochastic RSI oversold](https://patternsradar.com/screener/stoch-rsi-oversold.md): The fastest oversold oscillator there is, pinned below 20 in a long-term uptrend.
- [Force index turning positive](https://patternsradar.com/screener/force-index-turn.md): Elder's force index crossing above zero — price change and volume agreeing the dip is done.
- [9/21 EMA crossover](https://patternsradar.com/screener/ema-9-21-cross.md): The 9-day EMA crossing above the 21 in a stock still above its 200-day — the swing trader's golden cross.
- [Broke below the 200-day average](https://patternsradar.com/screener/broke-below-200-dma.md): Crossed under the 200-day moving average within the last three sessions — the line everyone watches, failing.
- [Stacked moving averages](https://patternsradar.com/screener/stacked-averages.md): Price above the 20, which is above the 50, which is above the 200. A trend in good order.
- [Strong but not overbought](https://patternsradar.com/screener/strong-and-quiet.md): Three-month gains with RSI still under 65 — room to run without chasing.
- [Ten sessions above the 20-day](https://patternsradar.com/screener/persistent-trend.md): Price that has not closed below its 20-day average in two weeks. Persistence, not a single good day.
- [Strong directional trend](https://patternsradar.com/screener/adx-strong-trend.md): ADX above 30 with buyers in control and the averages stacked — a trend worth trading.
- [Rate of change leaders](https://patternsradar.com/screener/roc-momentum.md): Ten percent rate of change with RSI still under 70 — acceleration, not exhaustion.
- [Three-month leaders](https://patternsradar.com/screener/quarter-leaders.md): Up more than 30% in a quarter and still above the 50-day — the current cycle's leaders.
- [Pullback in an uptrend](https://patternsradar.com/screener/pullback-in-uptrend.md): RSI under 40 in a stock still above its 200-day — weakness for sale inside strength.
- [Above a rising 200-day average](https://patternsradar.com/screener/above-200-dma.md): The plain health check: price above the 200-day, and the 200-day itself climbing.
- [MACD zero-line cross](https://patternsradar.com/screener/macd-zero-cross.md): The MACD line itself crossing above zero — the 12-day average overtaking the 26-day.
- [Quiet accumulation](https://patternsradar.com/screener/quiet-accumulation.md): High delivery on ordinary volume while the stock grinds above its 50-day average — accumulation without a headline.
- [Sustained delivery](https://patternsradar.com/screener/sustained-delivery.md): Delivery above 55% for five sessions running — a steady hand rather than one unusual day.
- [Money flow accumulation](https://patternsradar.com/screener/cmf-accumulation.md): Chaikin Money Flow positive, price above the 50-day, and delivery confirming it.
- [Delivery percentage rising](https://patternsradar.com/screener/delivery-rising.md): Three straight sessions of climbing delivery in a stock holding its 20-day average.
- [OBV rising streak](https://patternsradar.com/screener/obv-uptrend.md): Five straight sessions of net volume inflow — the tape voting yes all week.
- [Bollinger squeeze](https://patternsradar.com/screener/squeeze.md): Bands within 8% of the middle — compressed ranges that usually resolve with a move.
- [Up 15% in a month](https://patternsradar.com/screener/big-move-up.md): A decisive one-month advance, still trading above its 50-day.
- [Narrow range day](https://patternsradar.com/screener/narrow-range-day.md): A day's range under half the stock's own ATR — the coil before the spring.
- [NR7 — narrowest range in seven](https://patternsradar.com/screener/nr7.md): Today's high-low span is the tightest of the last seven sessions.
- [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.
- [Bullish engulfing at support](https://patternsradar.com/screener/bullish-engulfing-support.md): An engulfing candle forming while the stock sits on its 50-day average.
- [Three white soldiers](https://patternsradar.com/screener/three-white-soldiers.md): Three strong up-closes in a row above the 50-day — sustained buying, not a spike.
- [Doji on heavy volume](https://patternsradar.com/screener/doji-indecision.md): An indecision candle on above-average volume while the trend still holds.
- [Inside bar in an uptrend](https://patternsradar.com/screener/inside-bar-squeeze.md): A contracted range inside yesterday's, while the larger trend still points up.
- [Futures at a premium](https://patternsradar.com/screener/futures-premium.md): The front-month future paying more than half a percent over cash, in an uptrend — leverage leaning long.
- [Put writers underneath](https://patternsradar.com/screener/put-support.md): Heavy put open interest under an uptrend — option sellers paid to defend the levels below.
- [Promoters buying](https://patternsradar.com/screener/promoter-buying.md): Promoter stake up over half a percentage point last quarter, in a stock holding its long-term trend.
- [High promoter holding in an uptrend](https://patternsradar.com/screener/high-promoter-holding.md): Promoters holding over 70% and the price above its 200-day average — tight float, aligned owners.
- [Low PE in an uptrend](https://patternsradar.com/screener/low-pe-uptrend.md): Stocks under fifteen times trailing earnings, holding above the 200-day — cheap, and no longer ignored.
- [IT stocks in an uptrend](https://patternsradar.com/screener/it-stocks-uptrend.md): The Information Technology sector filtered to names above the 200-day with momentum intact.
- [Commodity stocks above the 200-day](https://patternsradar.com/screener/commodity-uptrends.md): The commodities macro-sector filtered to long-term uptrends — a cycle scan in one line.

## Common questions

### Which SMA period is best for the daily chart?

There is no best, only conventions with different jobs. The 20-day tracks the swing trend, the 50-day the intermediate trend, and the 200-day the long-term regime. Shorter periods hug price and whipsaw more; longer ones lag more. The honest approach is to test the period against your holding horizon — every scan here can be replayed against past sessions to check its hit rate.

### What does it mean when price crosses above the 200-day SMA?

It means the current price has moved above the average close of the last 200 sessions — roughly a trading year. Traders read it as a change of long-term regime, partly because so many funds and systems watch the same line that the level defends itself. It is a slow, confirming signal: by the time it fires, the turn is usually weeks old.

### Is the SMA better than the EMA?

Neither is better; they weight time differently. The SMA treats all bars in the window equally, so it is smoother and slower. The EMA weights recent bars more, so it turns earlier and whipsaws more. For long regime filters like the 200-day the difference is small; for short-period signals it is material, and testable.