Market Volume Profile MT5
- Indicators
- Version: 1.0
- Activations: 5
Volume Profile by Trading Session — Visualize where price spent its time and where the smart money traded, automatically segmented by Sydney, Tokyo, London, or New York sessions.
What is Market Volume Profile?
Market Volume Profile (MVP) is a professional-grade Volume Profile indicator built for traders who think in sessions, not just candles. While most volume tools show you a single profile across an arbitrary range, MVP automatically segments your chart by the four major Forex sessions and gives you a complete profile for each one — including historical lookback.
This is the tool you reach for when you need to answer:
- Where did the smart money trade during London?
- Is New York attacking yesterday's value area, or accepting it?
- Has Tokyo been balanced (D-Shape) or trending (P/b-Shape) all week?
- Where are the high-volume nodes that price will respect tomorrow?
MVP draws clean, professional Volume Profile boxes for every recent session, complete with POC (Point of Control), Value Area High/Low, a directional histogram showing buy/sell pressure, and an automatic bias label that classifies each session as bullish, bearish, or neutral.
Key Features
Session Auto-Detection
- Choose from Sydney, Tokyo, London, New York, or Manual mode
- Session times automatically adjust for Daylight Saving Time using the US DST rule (2nd Sunday March → 1st Sunday November)
- Works with any broker — set the Server_UTC offset once and forget about it
Volume Profile Algorithm
- POC (Point of Control) — the price level with the highest traded volume
- VAH / VAL (Value Area High/Low) — the price band containing the user-defined percentage of total volume (default 70%, the CME standard)
- Value Area expansion uses the CME 2-bucket sum rule for institutional-grade accuracy
Directional Histogram (3 Display Modes)
- Joined — Buy volume on the left, Sell volume on the right of a center divider
- Overlay — Dominant side behind, minority side overlaid on top
- Stacked — Dominant side first, minority side stacked next to it
- Color-coded by Buy/Sell pressure derived from each bar's close position
Profile Shape Classifier
- P-Shape (Bullish) — POC sits above the session midpoint, indicating buyers in control
- b-Shape (Bearish) — POC sits below the midpoint, sellers dominant
- D-Shape (Neutral) — balanced distribution, classic sideways behavior
Historical Session Lookback
- Configure how many days of past sessions to display (default 5)
- Each historical session gets its own complete profile, labeled with date and session name
- Compare today's auction to recent context at a glance
Manual Mode
- Draw your own custom box on any range
- MVP automatically calculates the full profile inside your box
- Drag the box to reposition — profile updates in real-time
Professional Visualization
- Session label at the top-left of each box
- Date label above the histogram
- POC/VAH/VAL labels with exact price values
- Optional Value Area shaded fill
- Bias and shape labels below each session
Why Traders Choose Market Volume Profile
For Day Traders — Know exactly where London left off when New York opens. Trade reactions to yesterday's POC, fades at VAH/VAL, and breakouts from balanced D-Shape sessions.
For Swing Traders — Identify multi-day high-volume nodes (HVN) and low-volume nodes (LVN) that act as support and resistance for days or weeks.
For Algorithmic Traders — The POC, VAH, and VAL values are exposed as indicator buffers in Manual mode, ready to be consumed by an EA via iCustom() .
For Market Structure Traders — Combine MVP with order block, supply/demand, or auction market theory frameworks. The P/b/D-Shape classifier alone replaces 30 minutes of manual structure analysis.
How to Use
1. Pick a session and watch it for a few days
Set Session = SESSION_LONDON and Look_Back_Days = 7 . You'll see seven London profiles back-to-back. Notice patterns: Is the POC consistently rising? London has been in distribution. Is the VA narrowing? Volatility is contracting — a breakout is coming.
2. Trade reactions at the POC
When New York opens, mark the London POC. Price often returns to test it. A clean rejection at the POC with the histogram showing strong opposite-direction volume is a high-probability fade signal.
3. Use VAH and VAL as inflection levels
A clean break above VAH on rising volume signals trend continuation. A failed test of VAH with the histogram showing aggressive sell volume is a classic short setup.
4. Read the shape
P-Shape after a strong trend = trend exhaustion candidate. D-Shape consolidation after a P-Shape day = potential balance area trade. b-Shape into known support = capitulation watch.
5. Algorithmic integration
Set Session = SESSION_MANUAL . The current box's POC, VAH, and VAL are exposed on indicator buffers 0, 1, and 2 respectively. Use iCustom() from your EA to read them.
Setup Guide
Step 1: Set your server's UTC offset
Open MetaTrader, look at the server time in the Market Watch. Compare it to UTC (use any world clock website). Set Server_UTC to the offset:
- GMT brokers (FXCM, etc.): Server_UTC = 0
- EET brokers (most MetaQuotes brokers): Server_UTC = 2
- MSK brokers: Server_UTC = 3
This is a one-time setup. DST is handled automatically.
Step 2: Choose your session
- Day traders on EUR/USD, GBP/USD: London or New York
- Day traders on USD/JPY, AUD/USD: Tokyo or Sydney
- All-session view: Run multiple copies of the indicator on the same chart, one per session
Step 3: Tune the bucket size
Bucket_Pips = 10.0 works well for major pairs on H1 and below. For M5 scalping, try 5 pips. For Gold (XAU/USD), try 50–100 pips depending on volatility.
Compatibility
- Platform: MetaTrader 4,5
- Symbols: Forex, Indices, Metals, Crypto, Stocks — any symbol with tick volume data
- Timeframes: M1 through D1 (M5 and H1 recommended for session work)
- Volume Source: Tick volume (works on all brokers, including non-ECN)
Technical Notes
- The Value Area expansion uses the CME / TPO standard "2-bucket sum" rule for institutional accuracy
- Bar-to-bucket volume distribution is uniform across the bar's High–Low range (Time-Price-Opportunity equivalent)
- Buy/Sell ratio per bar is derived from close position: BuyRatio = (Close - Low) / (High - Low)
- The indicator handles missing bars (weekends, holidays) and bars with zero volume gracefully
- Active sessions display real-time profiles that update with each tick
Support & Updates
Updates and bug fixes are provided free of charge for the lifetime of the product. If you find an issue or want to request a feature, contact us through the MQL5 product page comments.
Tags / Keywords
volume profile · market profile · POC · point of control · value area · VAH · VAL · forex sessions · London session · New York session · Tokyo session · Sydney session · TPO · auction market theory · order flow · smart money · intraday · day trading · swing trading · MT5 indicator
