What a scanner does
A scanner checks many instruments against the same conditions and lists the ones that match. Instead of flipping through charts, you see which stocks broke their opening range, which futures are adding open interest and which options are seeing unusual volume. The list updates during market hours as prices change.
Ready-made scans
| Scan | What it finds | Useful for |
|---|---|---|
| Opening range breakout | Stocks trading above or below their first 15-minute range | Opening range breakout traders |
| Volume spike | Volume at least twice the average for the time of day | Spotting news-driven moves early |
| Near 52-week high or low | Stocks within 2% of their 52-week extremes | Momentum and breakout setups |
| RSI extremes | RSI(14) below 30 or above 70 | RSI mean reversion |
| Supertrend flips | Supertrend changing direction on the chosen timeframe | Supertrend trend following |
| Gap up or gap down | Opening more than 1.5% away from the previous close | Gap trading |
| Futures OI buildup | Long buildup, short buildup, short covering and long unwinding | Futures analysis |
| Option OI change | Strikes with the largest change in open interest | Nifty PCR and open interest analysis |
Reading futures buildup
Open interest (OI) scans classify each futures contract by how price and OI moved together:
| Price | Open interest | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Up | Up | Long buildup: new buying |
| Down | Up | Short buildup: new selling |
| Up | Down | Short covering: sellers closing |
| Down | Down | Long unwinding: buyers closing |
These are descriptions of what happened, not predictions. A long buildup can reverse within the same session.
Build your own scan
- Choose the universe: Nifty 50, Nifty 500, F&O stocks, index options or your watchlist.
- Add conditions: price, volume, indicators such as RSI, moving averages, VWAP, ATR and Supertrend, or open interest.
- Set the timeframe: 5-minute, 15-minute, hourly or daily candles.
- Sort the results: by percentage move, volume ratio or OI change.
- Save it to run again tomorrow.
Keep conditions simple. A scan with ten conditions often finds nothing, and a scan with one finds too much. Two or three conditions that describe one idea work best.
From scan to trade
- Create an alert from any result, so you are told when the stock reaches your level. See market alerts.
- Open the chart or the option chain for a result with one click.
- Use the same conditions in a strategy. The strategy builder uses the same indicators, so a scan you trust can become a rule you backtest and then automate.
A scan finds candidates. It is not a recommendation to trade them. Check liquidity, the F&O ban list and upcoming results before acting on any result.
Good habits
- Scan at fixed times, for example 9:30, 11:00 and 14:00, rather than watching all day.
- Check volume first. A breakout on thin volume often fails.
- Avoid the first five minutes. Opening prices can be noisy, and many scans need a few candles to settle.
- Keep a log of which scans led to good trades. Our trade journal helps.
Start your free trial
Connect your broker, build a strategy and test it on paper before a single live order goes out.
Frequently asked questions
Which markets can I scan?
NSE stocks and F&O contracts, including index and stock futures and options. MCX commodities can be added to a watchlist and scanned on price and indicators.
How often do scan results update?
During market hours, as new prices arrive from your connected broker's feed. Indicator conditions update when each candle closes.
Can a scan place orders automatically?
Not by itself. Use a scan to find setups and create alerts, and use the strategy builder to automate the rules once you have tested them.
Are scans included in every plan?
Check the pricing page for what each plan includes, or contact us for details.