A candlestick chart displays open, high, low, and close (OHLC) price data for financial instruments over time. Each candlestick shows the price range within a specific period, with the body indicating the open-close range and the wicks (shadows) showing the high-low range. Color coding distinguishes bullish (price increase) from bearish (price decrease) periods, making it easy to identify trends and price patterns at a glance.
#' anyplot.ai
#' candlestick-basic: Basic Candlestick Chart
#' Library: ggplot2 3.5.1 | R 4.4.1
#' Quality: 91/100 | Created: 2026-05-30
library(ggplot2)
library(scales)
library(ragg)
set.seed(42)
# --- Theme tokens ------------------------------------------------------------
THEME <- Sys.getenv("ANYPLOT_THEME", "light")
PAGE_BG <- if (THEME == "light") "#FAF8F1" else "#1A1A17"
ELEVATED_BG <- if (THEME == "light") "#FFFDF6" else "#242420"
INK <- if (THEME == "light") "#1A1A17" else "#F0EFE8"
INK_SOFT <- if (THEME == "light") "#4A4A44" else "#B8B7B0"
# Imprint palette — semantic finance mapping (position 1: gain, position 5: loss)
BULL_COLOR <- "#009E73" # bullish / gain
BEAR_COLOR <- "#AE3030" # bearish / loss
# --- Data --------------------------------------------------------------------
# NovaTech Corp (NVTK) — 40 trading days, Jan–Mar 2024
all_dates <- seq(as.Date("2024-01-02"), by = "day", length.out = 60)
trade_dates <- all_dates[!weekdays(all_dates) %in% c("Saturday", "Sunday")]
trade_dates <- head(trade_dates, 40)
n <- length(trade_dates)
price <- 148.0
opens <- numeric(n)
highs <- numeric(n)
lows <- numeric(n)
closes <- numeric(n)
for (i in seq_len(n)) {
daily_range <- runif(1, 1.5, 4.5)
open_i <- price + rnorm(1, 0, 0.5)
close_i <- open_i + rnorm(1, 0.2, daily_range * 0.45)
high_i <- max(open_i, close_i) + runif(1, 0.2, daily_range * 0.35)
low_i <- min(open_i, close_i) - runif(1, 0.2, daily_range * 0.35)
opens[i] <- open_i
highs[i] <- high_i
lows[i] <- low_i
closes[i] <- close_i
price <- close_i
}
df <- data.frame(
date = trade_dates,
x = seq_len(n),
open = opens,
high = highs,
low = lows,
close = closes
)
df$direction <- ifelse(df$close >= df$open, "up", "down")
df$body_top <- pmax(df$open, df$close)
df$body_bottom <- pmin(df$open, df$close)
df$xmin <- df$x - 0.38
df$xmax <- df$x + 0.38
# Closing price trend line (linear fit) for visual storytelling
trend_fit <- lm(close ~ x, data = df)
trend_y <- fitted(trend_fit)
# --- X-axis breaks -----------------------------------------------------------
break_idx <- seq(1, n, by = 5)
break_labels <- format(trade_dates[break_idx], "%b %d")
# --- Plot --------------------------------------------------------------------
p <- ggplot(df) +
# High-low wicks
geom_segment(
aes(x = x, xend = x, y = low, yend = high, color = direction),
linewidth = 0.45, show.legend = FALSE
) +
# Subtle trend overlay (closing prices)
geom_line(
data = data.frame(x = df$x, close = trend_y),
aes(x = x, y = close),
color = INK_SOFT, linewidth = 0.5, linetype = "dashed",
inherit.aes = FALSE, alpha = 0.55
) +
# Open-close bodies
geom_rect(
aes(xmin = xmin, xmax = xmax, ymin = body_bottom, ymax = body_top,
fill = direction, color = direction),
linewidth = 0.2
) +
scale_color_manual(
values = c("up" = BULL_COLOR, "down" = BEAR_COLOR),
guide = "none"
) +
scale_fill_manual(
values = c("up" = BULL_COLOR, "down" = BEAR_COLOR),
labels = c("up" = "Bullish", "down" = "Bearish"),
breaks = c("up", "down"),
name = NULL
) +
scale_x_continuous(
breaks = break_idx,
labels = break_labels,
expand = expansion(mult = c(0.02, 0.02))
) +
scale_y_continuous(
labels = label_dollar(accuracy = 0.01),
expand = expansion(mult = c(0.03, 0.04))
) +
labs(
title = "NovaTech Corp (NVTK) · candlestick-basic · r · ggplot2 · anyplot.ai",
x = NULL,
y = "Price (USD)"
) +
theme_minimal(base_size = 8) +
theme(
plot.background = element_rect(fill = PAGE_BG, color = PAGE_BG),
panel.background = element_rect(fill = PAGE_BG, color = NA),
panel.grid.major.y = element_line(color = INK_SOFT, linewidth = 0.2),
panel.grid.major.x = element_blank(),
panel.grid.minor = element_blank(),
axis.title = element_text(color = INK, size = 10),
axis.text = element_text(color = INK_SOFT, size = 8),
axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 40, hjust = 1),
axis.line = element_line(color = INK_SOFT, linewidth = 0.3),
axis.ticks = element_line(color = INK_SOFT, linewidth = 0.3),
plot.title = element_text(color = INK, size = 12,
margin = margin(b = 8)),
legend.background = element_rect(fill = ELEVATED_BG, color = INK_SOFT,
linewidth = 0.3),
legend.text = element_text(color = INK_SOFT, size = 8),
legend.key.size = unit(0.9, "lines"),
legend.position = "top",
legend.direction = "horizontal",
plot.margin = margin(t = 10, r = 14, b = 8, l = 8)
)
# --- Save --------------------------------------------------------------------
ggsave(
filename = sprintf("plot-%s.png", THEME),
plot = p,
device = ragg::agg_png,
width = 8,
height = 4.5,
units = "in",
dpi = 400
)
Runnable source as JSON, for any HTTP client: https://api.anyplot.ai/specs/candlestick-basic/ggplot2/code. Any spec id and library id listed in llms-full.txt fit the same URL shape; every URL below is complete and callable.
{
"spec_id": "candlestick-basic",
"language": "r",
"library": "ggplot2",
"page": "https://anyplot.ai/candlestick-basic/r/ggplot2",
"hub": "https://anyplot.ai/candlestick-basic",
"code_json": "https://api.anyplot.ai/specs/candlestick-basic/ggplot2/code",
"spec_json": "https://api.anyplot.ai/specs/candlestick-basic",
"render_light_png": "https://storage.googleapis.com/anyplot-images/plots/candlestick-basic/r/ggplot2/plot-light.png",
"render_dark_png": "https://storage.googleapis.com/anyplot-images/plots/candlestick-basic/r/ggplot2/plot-dark.png",
"quality_score": 91.0,
"license": "MIT",
"guide": "https://anyplot.ai/llms.txt"
}Part of Basic Candlestick Chart on anyplot.ai.