Support and resistance

Testing a level

A level test is when price comes back to a support or resistance zone and reacts there. A test shows the zone is still being watched, but the close and the next candles decide the outcome. Whether repeated tests strengthen a zone or wear it down is read differently depending on the conditions.

The orange band marks the support zone and the orange dots the points where price tested it. Each turn comes inside the band.

What is a level test?

When price reaches a support or resistance zone, the zone is tested. Price can touch the zone's near edge, wick into the zone, or trade inside it for a while.

A test can end in three ways: price turns away from the zone, the candle closes inside the zone and nothing is settled yet, or the candle closes beyond the far edge and the test becomes a breakout. This page covers the first two and what repeated tests mean.

How to read a test

State the zone and the timeframe. Note which zone is being tested and which timeframe's candles you are reading. A test on the 1H chart can be a single wick on the daily chart.
Look at how price arrived. A sharp, fast approach and a slow approach with small candles can set up different pictures.
Look at where the candle closed. Did it close behind the zone, inside it, or beyond the far edge? The wick only shows how far price reached.
Measure the size of the reaction. How far price moved away from the zone shows how clear the test was. Price that comes straight back to the zone can be read as a weak reaction.

Does each test strengthen or weaken a zone?

There are two common readings of repeated tests. Each is reasonable under certain conditions; which one fits better is shown not by a single test but by how the tests change from one to the next.

Tests confirm the zone

If price turns away from the zone with a clear reaction each time, the zone is still being watched. Each new reaction can bring the zone to the attention of more participants.

Tests wear the zone down

Each test can use up part of the buying or selling interest at the zone. If reactions get smaller, price returns to the zone faster and closes come deeper inside it, the zone may be weakening.

The conditions decide

The number of tests alone says little. What matters is the size of the reactions, the time between tests and where the closes sit relative to the zone.

Signs of which reading fits better

Reaction size: Is the move after each test getting bigger or smaller?
Time between tests: Is price coming back to the zone sooner each time?
Depth of the closes: Do closes stay behind the zone, or are they creeping towards the far edge?
Highs and lows: When support is being tested, falling highs between the tests can mean price is pressing on the zone more and more.
Trend: The trend on the higher timeframe affects which side the zone is tested from and how the test is read.

The reading gets clearer as these signs agree; a single sign on its own is not enough.

What it shows, what it does not prove

What it shows

That the zone is still an area where price reacts
How the reactions change from test to test
Where the closes sit relative to the zone

What it does not prove

That the next test will end the same way
That a zone will break, or hold, after a certain number of tests
How far price will move away from the zone

The MarketLevelMap view

How it relates to zones

A test makes sense when the zone is read as a band. As long as the wick or the close stays inside the band, the zone is being tested. To say the zone has been cleared, a close beyond the far edge is needed.

With a single line, a turn that stops a few units short may not count as a test, while a wick that crosses it by a few units can look like a breakout. Because the band takes into account the width over which price has reacted before, it lets tests be counted more consistently.

Often confused with

For general information only. Not investment advice.Last updated: 23 October 2026