Yfinance

yfinance

Overview

yfinance is an open-source Python wrapper for Yahoo Finance, providing global market data (US stocks, HK stocks, ETFs, indices) including historical and real-time quotes. Completely free, no registration or API key required.

The project has a built-in yfinance DataLoader (backtest/loaders/yfinance_loader.py). When backtesting, set source: "yfinance" or source: "auto" to invoke it automatically.

Quick Start

pip install yfinance pandas

import yfinance as yf

# Apple daily bars for the past year
df = yf.download("AAPL", start="2025-01-01", end="2026-01-01", progress=False)
print(df.head())

# Tencent (HK-listed)
df = yf.download("0700.HK", start="2025-01-01", end="2026-01-01", progress=False)
print(df.head())

Ticker Format Conversion

The project uses a unified ticker format. The DataLoader automatically converts to yfinance format:

Rules:

• US stocks: strip the .US suffix → use the raw ticker
• HK stocks: keep .HK, pad the number to 4 digits (700 → 0700)

Supported Data Types

1. Historical OHLCV

import yfinance as yf
import pandas as pd

# Single stock
df = yf.download("AAPL", start="2025-01-01", end="2026-01-01", progress=False)

# Batch download
df = yf.download(["AAPL", "MSFT", "GOOGL"], start="2025-01-01", end="2026-01-01", progress=False)

# Specific interval
df = yf.download("AAPL", start="2026-03-01", end="2026-03-30",
                 interval="1h", progress=False)  # 1m/5m/15m/30m/1h/1d/1wk/1mo

Supported intervals:

• Minute-level: 1m, 2m, 5m, 15m, 30m, 60m, 90m
• Hourly: 1h
• Daily and above: 1d, 5d, 1wk, 1mo, 3mo

Minute data limits:

• 1m: up to 7 days of history
• 2m/5m/15m/30m/60m/90m: up to 60 days
• 1h: up to 730 days
• 1d and above: unlimited

2. Company Info

ticker = yf.Ticker("AAPL")

info = ticker.info
print(f"Company: {info.get('longName')}")
print(f"Industry: {info.get('industry')}")
print(f"Market cap: {info.get('marketCap')}")
print(f"PE: {info.get('trailingPE')}")
print(f"EPS: {info.get('trailingEps')}")
print(f"Dividend yield: {info.get('dividendYield')}")

3. Financial Statements

ticker = yf.Ticker("AAPL")

# Income statement (annual)
income = ticker.financials
# Income statement (quarterly)
income_q = ticker.quarterly_financials

# Balance sheet
balance = ticker.balance_sheet

# Cash flow statement
cashflow = ticker.cashflow

# Earnings data
earnings = ticker.earnings

4. Dividends and Splits

ticker = yf.Ticker("AAPL")

# Dividend history
dividends = ticker.dividends

# Stock split history
splits = ticker.splits

# All corporate actions
actions = ticker.actions

5. Institutional Holdings

ticker = yf.Ticker("AAPL")

# Institutional holders
holders = ticker.institutional_holders

# Major holders summary
major = ticker.major_holders

# Insider transactions
insider = ticker.insider_transactions

6. Indices and ETFs

# Major indices
sp500 = yf.download("^GSPC", start="2025-01-01", end="2026-01-01", progress=False)  # S&P 500
nasdaq = yf.download("^IXIC", start="2025-01-01", end="2026-01-01", progress=False)  # NASDAQ
hsi = yf.download("^HSI", start="2025-01-01", end="2026-01-01", progress=False)      # Hang Seng Index

# ETFs
spy = yf.download("SPY", start="2025-01-01", end="2026-01-01", progress=False)
qqq = yf.download("QQQ", start="2025-01-01", end="2026-01-01", progress=False)

7. FX Rates

# Currency pairs
usdcny = yf.download("CNY=X", start="2025-01-01", end="2026-01-01", progress=False)
usdhkd = yf.download("HKD=X", start="2025-01-01", end="2026-01-01", progress=False)
eurusd = yf.download("EURUSD=X", start="2025-01-01", end="2026-01-01", progress=False)

Popular Ticker Reference

US Stocks

HK Stocks

Major Indices

Sector ETFs

Backtest Usage

config.json Example

{
  "source": "yfinance",
  "codes": ["AAPL.US", "MSFT.US"],
  "start_date": "2020-01-01",
  "end_date": "2026-03-30",
  "initial_cash": 1000000,
  "commission": 0.001,
  "extra_fields": null
}

Cross-Market Auto Mode

{
  "source": "auto",
  "codes": ["000001.SZ", "AAPL.US", "700.HK", "BTC-USDT"],
  "start_date": "2024-01-01",
  "end_date": "2026-03-30",
  "initial_cash": 1000000,
  "commission": 0.001,
  "extra_fields": null
}

source: "auto" routes automatically by ticker format: A-shares → tushare, HK/US stocks → yfinance, crypto → OKX.

Notes

• Free, no API key: yfinance scrapes Yahoo Finance public data — no registration needed
• Rate limits: high-frequency requests may trigger temporary Yahoo bans — prefer batch downloads over per-ticker loops
• Minute data range: limited by Yahoo Finance (see table above)
• HK tickers: Yahoo Finance uses 4-digit numbers + .HK; pad with leading zeros where needed
• Adjustment: auto_adjust=True (default) returns forward-adjusted prices; the project loader uses auto_adjust=False
• Timezone: returned data includes timezone info; the DataLoader strips it automatically
• extra_fields not supported: yfinance via the backtest loader returns OHLCV only; PE/PB and other fundamentals require separate yf.Ticker().info calls
• Comparison with Tushare: Tushare covers deep A-share data (financials, fund flows, block trades, etc.); yfinance covers global markets but with less depth