An Exponential Moving Average (EMA) is a moving average that gives more weight to recent prices than to older ones, which makes it turn and react to new price changes faster than a Simple Moving Average (SMA) covering the same number of periods. Both are overlay indicators plotted directly on a price chart, but the EMA’s extra sensitivity to recent price action is the key practical difference between the two.
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See both moving average types compared side by side in EMA and SMA Explained on TradingView.