Williams %R
Williams %R measures where the latest close sits within the highest high and lowest low of the last 14 sessions, on a scale from 0 at the top of the range to -100 at the bottom.
`williams_r` locates today's close inside the last 14 sessions' high-low range. A reading of 0 means the stock closed at the very top of everything it has traded in that window; -100 means the very bottom. The conventional zones follow from the scale. Below -80 is oversold, a close near the bottom of a two-week range. Above -20 is overbought.
On daily NSE data it is a fast mean-reversion gauge. The oversold staple pairs `williams_r < -80` with `close > sma(200)`, restricting washed-out readings to stocks whose long-term trend is intact, because oversold in a downtrend is a stock going down. The overbought side reads as extension: above -20 with RSI also above 70 flags names priced for perfection in the short term, which is more useful for tightening a stop than for shorting.
Its speed is the trade-off. %R uses no smoothing at all, so it snaps to its extremes on any sharp move and can pin at -100 for days while a real decline runs. An oversold reading tells you where the close sits in the range and nothing about where the decline ends. It reacts faster than RSI, which makes it better for spotting a turn and worse for confirming one.
Its nearest sibling is the stochastic oscillator. Both measure close location within the recent range; the stochastic puts it on a 0-100 scale instead of -100 to 0, and in its slow form adds smoothing plus a %D signal line. %R is the raw, inverted, single-line version, quicker to reach its extremes and with no built-in crossover to time the exit from them.
In Sift
Written as williams_r — scaled -100 to 0; below -80 oversold, above -20 overbought. A working scan — Closing near the bottom of its two-week range while the long trend holds:
where williams_r < -80 and close > sma(200)1
of the 500 most-traded NSE stocks match today, as of 6 Oct 2026
Scans that use it
Prebuilt scans in the library whose query reads this value — each with a hit-rate replay over the last 250 sessions.
Common questions
What does Williams %R below -80 mean?
The stock is closing in the bottom fifth of its last 14 sessions' high-low range, the conventional oversold zone. It marks short-term one-sidedness. In a genuine downtrend the reading can stay pinned near -100 for days, which is why most scans pair it with a long-term trend filter.
Why is Williams %R negative?
By construction. Larry Williams defined the scale from 0 at the top of the recent range to -100 at the bottom, so every reading falls between -100 and 0. It carries the same information as a stochastic %K flipped and shifted.
What is the difference between Williams %R and the stochastic oscillator?
They compute the same ratio: where the close sits in the recent high-low range. %R presents it raw and inverted on a -100 to 0 scale with no smoothing. The slow stochastic smooths %K and adds a %D signal line, so it turns later but offers a crossover to trade against.