Correlation Indicator for MetaTrader 4

If you trade pairs that tend to move together, like EURUSD and GBPUSD or gold and silver, the Correlation Indicator gives you a quick on-chart read of how tightly your chart symbol and its partner are currently tracking. It draws the partner instrument over your candles and prints the rolling correlation as a percentage. Here is exactly what it does and where it falls short.

What is Correlation Indicator, and what does it do in MT4?

The Correlation Indicator is a free MetaTrader 4 study that measures the rolling statistical correlation between the symbol on your chart and a second, related instrument. It plots a single line in the chart window, a normalized projection of the paired instrument scaled onto your price axis, and adds a compact panel in the top-left corner showing the paired symbol name, the current correlation value as a percentage, and an up or down arrow for the partner's last-bar direction.

One important point the source code makes clear, the second instrument is not chosen from a dropdown. The pairing is decided automatically from your chart symbol using a fixed table. For example, attaching it to AUDUSD pairs it with NZDUSD, USDJPY pairs with USDCHF, gold pairs with silver, and Bitcoin pairs with the Nasdaq index. If your chart symbol is not in that supported list, the indicator shows an alert and does not load.

On each calculation pass the indicator pulls CorrelationPeriod bars of closes for both the chart symbol and its auto-assigned partner, converts each series to percentage change from a base price, and runs a standard Pearson correlation across the two change series. That single number, between roughly -1 and +1, is what drives the panel, displayed as a percentage by UpdatePanel.

For the visible line, the indicator does not plot the raw correlation. It overlays the partner instrument by taking your chart's close and adjusting it by the partner's recent percentage change, flipping the sign when the correlation is negative, so an inversely correlated partner is mirrored to read in the same direction as your chart. The arrow on the panel simply reflects whether the partner's last close was above the one before it.

Because the line and the correlation value are recomputed as new bars and ticks arrive, the most recent readings update in real time and the current bar can shift as it forms. This is normal for a rolling-window study, but it does mean the tool is descriptive, not predictive. It reports the relationship that exists right now, it does not forecast where either instrument is going.

Which Correlation Indicator inputs matter most?

The indicator exposes only three real inputs. Everything else, including the pair table and panel layout, is fixed in the code.

How do you add Correlation Indicator to MetaTrader 4?

1. Unzip the download and locate the indicator file from the zip (the .mq4).
2. In MetaTrader 4, click File, then Open Data Folder.
3. Open the MQL4 folder, then the Indicators folder, and copy the .mq4 file into it.
4. Back in MT4, right-click Navigator and choose Refresh, or restart the terminal, so the indicator appears.
5. Open a chart for a supported symbol, for example EURUSD, USDJPY, or XAUUSD.
6. Drag the Correlation Indicator from Navigator onto that chart and confirm any settings.
7. Click OK, the overlay line and the correlation panel appear in the top-left of the chart.

Where does Correlation Indicator help, and where does it fall short?

What Correlation Indicator does well, and where it falls short, with nothing hidden.

• +Free and MIT-licensed, so you can use, study, and modify the source without restriction.
• +Gives a fast, glanceable read of the current correlation as a percentage right on the chart, no second window needed.
• +Auto-detects broker symbol variations and suffixes, including common gold, silver, Bitcoin, and Nasdaq naming, so it usually finds the partner without manual setup.
• +Works across forex majors, metals, and a few crypto and index pairings out of the box.
• +Lightweight single-buffer study that adds negligible load to the platform.
• −The partner instrument is fixed by a hardcoded table, you cannot pick an arbitrary second symbol despite what a 'choose your instrument' description might imply.
• −Only works on the supported symbols, anything outside the list triggers an alert and the indicator refuses to load.
• −The plotted line is a sign-flipped, normalized overlay, not the correlation coefficient itself, which can be confusing if you expect a value oscillating between -1 and +1 on screen.
• −It updates as bars form, so the latest reading can change, it is a rolling descriptive measure, not a non-repainting fixed signal.
• −It does not place trades, generate buy or sell signals, or predict direction, it only describes the existing relationship.
• −The partner's data must exist at your broker, if the symbol is missing from Market Watch the correlation cannot be calculated.

Correlation Indicator: questions traders ask

Repo LICENSE is MIT by the same author; a stray 'All Rights Reserved' string in the header is superseded by the committed MIT grant.

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