Williams Percent Range (Williams %R) is a momentum oscillator that expresses the current close as a percentage of the high-low range over a chosen lookback period. The values range from -100 to 0, with readings near 0 indicating the close is near the period's high and readings near -100 indicating the close is near the period's low.
For a lookback period n, identify the highest high and lowest low over the past n periods. Then compute %R as (Highest High − Close) / (Highest High − Lowest Low) × -100. A value near -20 suggests the close is near the high end of the range; near -80 suggests the low end.
Traders monitor Williams %R to gauge momentum conditions: readings in the -20 to 0 range suggest movement toward the high end of the range, while readings in the -80 to -100 range suggest movement toward the low end. Crossings of thresholds and reversals in conjunction with price action or other indicators are common ways to interpret the indicator.
The indicator can be noisy and is sensitive to the lookback period. It should not be used alone, and readings can differ across assets and timeframes.
On a daily chart with a 14-day lookback, Williams %R rose from -92 to -76 over several days, moving toward the -80 oversold boundary without a guaranteed outcome.
Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) · Stochastic Oscillator · Relative Strength Index (RSI) · Momentum · Highest High · Lowest Low