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Glossary · Indicators

Kumo (Ichimoku cloud)

The shaded area between Senkou Span A and B in Ichimoku, shifted 26 periods ahead and used as a trend filter and support/resistance zone.

By Sky Trade editorial teamUpdated

Kumo is Japanese for “cloud”. In the Ichimoku system it is the area between two lines: Senkou Span A (the average of Tenkan and Kijun) and Senkou Span B (the midpoint of the 52-period high and low), both shifted 26 periods into the future.

How traders read it:

  • Price above the cloud suggests a bullish bias, below it a bearish one, inside it no clear trend.
  • A thick cloud is treated as a stronger zone than a thin one, because it is harder to cross.
  • When Span A crosses Span B the cloud changes colour — a kumo twist — read as a possible change of trend.

Because the cloud is shifted forward, it appears to show future support and resistance. That is a visual effect: it is still calculated entirely from past prices, and its projection tells you where midpoints of past ranges will sit, not where price will go.

The cloud is a slow tool. On short timeframes price crosses it often, and thin clouds offer little resistance. Many traders use the cloud from a higher timeframe as context for entries on a lower one. See Ichimoku explained and support.

Example

On H4, USD/JPY drops into a thick cloud between 150.40 and 150.90 and stalls there for two days. Later, a thin cloud at 149.80–149.90 gives way within a few candles.

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