Inverted hammer candlestick: what it means and how to spot one
An inverted hammer is an upside-down hammer: small body low, long upper wick, after a fall. Learn what it shows and how to tell it from a shooting star.
An inverted hammer is an upside-down hammer: small body near the bottom, long upper wick, after a decline. On this site: body at most 35% of the range, upper wick at least 2x the body, lower wick at most 15% of the range, after closes fell at least 2% over 5 candles. It shows buyers testing higher prices.
Practice on two charts
How to identify it (the exact rules)
These are the rules this site uses to build and grade every chart. Traders do not all use the same numbers; ours are published so you can check every answer (see the methodology).
- Hammer, hanging man, shooting star, inverted hammer: body more than a doji's and at most 35% of the range.
- Hammer family: the long wick is at least 2 times the body.
- Hammer family: the other wick is at most 15% of the range.
- Prior trend measured on the closes of the 5 candles before the pattern.
- A prior trend needs a move of at least 2% over that lookback.
- Inverted hammer: the long wick is the upper one and the prior trend is down. Shooting star: the same shape after an uptrend.
What an inverted hammer shows
The market has been sliding. A period opens and, for once, buyers push hard. Price climbs well above the open. They cannot keep it. By the close, price has sunk back near the low of the period, close to the open.
At first glance that sounds like a loss for buyers, and in a single period it is. The reason chart readers pay attention is the setting. During a decline, periods usually open weak and close weaker. Here, buyers managed a real rally inside the period for the first time in a while. The long upper wick is the size of that attempt. The lower wick is short, which means sellers could not push much below the open either.
So the inverted hammer is a test, not a win. It says the selling has met some resistance from buyers, and the next periods will show whether that test turns into more.
Two versions of the same shape
| Name | Same shape? | Trend before it | What it suggests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inverted hammer | Yes | Falling (closes down 2%+ over 5 candles) | Buyers are starting to push back |
| Shooting star | Yes | Rising (closes up 2%+ over 5 candles) | Buyers were turned away near a high |
The two charts above each end on a shaded candle with this shape. For each, decide: inverted hammer or shooting star? One chart shows each. Cover the shaded candle with your thumb and ask whether the chart was going down or up.
Most often confused with: the shooting star
The inverted hammer and the shooting star are the same candle in different places. People mix them up because most pictures online show the shape alone, with no trend around it.
A second confusion is with the ordinary hammer. The names sound alike, and both appear after a decline, but the wicks are on opposite sides. A hammer's long wick points down: sellers pushed low and lost. An inverted hammer's long wick points up: buyers pushed high and lost. The hammer shows a defended low. The inverted hammer shows an attempted rally. The hammer's story is usually treated as the firmer of the two, because it closes near its high.
What an inverted hammer does not tell you
- That buyers won. They gave back their gains within the same period.
- That the decline has ended. A falling market can print several inverted hammers on its way down.
- How strong the next move could be. Its upper wick is not a target.
- Much at all without follow-through. It mostly matters through what the next candle does.
How reliable is it?
There is no reliable success statistic for the inverted hammer. It needs a following candle to mean much, which makes any one-candle figure even less meaningful. Researchers have tested whether candlestick strategies create value for investors (for example Marshall, Young and Rose, 2006, in the sources); results depend on the market, the period and trading costs, and no pattern comes with a dependable success rate. Read it as a first sign of buying interest, nothing more.
Where the idea is proven wrong
The inverted hammer argues that buyers have started to push back from the lows. Its low is where sellers last held control. If price later closes below the inverted hammer's low, the push failed and the selling has resumed, so the candle's reading no longer holds. A close above the top of its body, or above its high, is the confirmation its logic is waiting for.
Frequently asked questions
Is an inverted hammer bullish?
It is read as a possible early bullish sign because buyers pushed price up after a decline. But they lost those gains by the close, so on its own it is weak. Chart readers usually wait for the next candle to close higher before giving it weight.
Is an upside-down hammer the same as an inverted hammer?
Yes. Upside-down hammer is just another name people search for. It describes the shape: a hammer flipped over, with the small body at the bottom and the long wick on top. It is called an inverted hammer when it follows a decline.
What is the difference between an inverted hammer and a shooting star?
Only the trend before it. The shape is identical. After a fall it is an inverted hammer, after a rise a shooting star. On this site the trend is a change of at least 2% in the closes over the 5 previous candles.
Which is stronger, a hammer or an inverted hammer?
Many chart readers treat the hammer as the firmer of the two. A hammer closes near its high after rejecting a low. An inverted hammer closes near its low after a failed rally. Neither has a reliable success rate, and both need follow-through.