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ask - PineScript Variable

`ask`

Overview

ask returns the lowest price an active seller is willing to accept at the moment of the current tick. The series is only populated on tick charts ("1T"); on higher timeframes it yields na.

Remarks

Values update only when a new tick arrives. Quote changes without trades are not reflected.
Because the series is na outside tick charts, guard calculations with not na(ask) or provide fallbacks.
Pair with bid to compute spreads or monitor quote depth changes.

Example

//@version=5
indicator("Bid-ask spread monitor", overlay=false)

spread = not na(ask) and not na(bid) ? ask - bid : na

plot(spread, "Spread", color=color.orange)
bgcolor(spread > nz(spread[1]) ? color.new(color.red, 85) : na,
    title="Expanding spread highlight")

See Also