Kumo (Ichimoku cloud)
The Kumo, or Ichimoku cloud, is the area between the Senkou Spans A and B, projected forward, which materialises support and resistance and sets the market's bullish or bearish bias.
The Kumo (Japanese for “cloud”) is the area between the Senkou Span A and the Senkou Span B, projected 26 periods forward. It is the visual core of Ichimoku: rather than a single support or resistance line, it defines a zone. The cloud is said to be bullish when Span A sits above Span B, bearish otherwise; the point where the two lines cross is called a twist and often signals a regime change in the making.
Reading price against the cloud
- Price above the cloud: bullish context, the Kumo acts as a support zone.
- Price below the cloud: bearish context, the Kumo acts as a resistance zone.
- Price inside the cloud: indecision, many traders stand aside.
- Thick cloud: strong support/resistance; thin cloud: a break is more likely.
The cloud lends itself particularly well to screening: in Screener.Trading you can filter assets whose price is breaking out of the Kumo, or trading above or below it, and the MTF Ichimoku layer overlays the clouds of several timeframes on a single chart to visualise confluence zones.
Frequently asked questions
Keep exploring
- FeatureThe multi-indicator, multi-timeframe screenerCombine technical indicators, timeframes and comparison operators to keep only the assets that match your strategy exactly.
- FeatureCharts built for technical analysis13 stackable indicators, a full drawing toolkit and annotations that are still there every time you come back to a symbol.
- IndicatorIchimoku Kinko HyoA complete analysis system in a single indicator: five lines and a cloud that show trend, key levels and momentum at a glance.
- IndicatorMulti-timeframe Ichimoku (MTF)Display the daily Ichimoku cloud directly on your hourly chart: higher timeframe levels become visible right where you trade.
- GlossarySenkou Span AThe Senkou Span A is the average of the Tenkan-sen and Kijun-sen, projected 26 periods ahead, and forms the first boundary of the Ichimoku cloud.
- GlossarySenkou Span BThe Senkou Span B is the midpoint of the last 52 periods' range, projected 26 periods ahead, forming the slow boundary of the Ichimoku cloud.
- GlossaryChikou SpanThe Chikou Span is the current closing price shifted 26 periods back, used in Ichimoku to confirm a trend by comparing today's price with past price action.
- GlossaryMulti-timeframe analysisMulti-timeframe analysis means studying the same asset across several timeframes, typically a higher one for the trend and a lower one for timing.
- GuideBuilding your first screener, step by stepHow to turn a strategy idea into objective rules, pick the right asset universe, read scan results and iterate until you get a genuinely actionable list of opportunities.