The Athens Stock Exchange Index has formed a consolidation pattern referred to as a pennant and its first golden cross since 2011, a sign to some technical analysts that further gains will follow.

The 50-day moving average on Greece’s equity benchmark climbed above the 200-day moving average yesterday in Athens, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The golden-cross pattern occurs when a short-term moving average rises above a longer-term average. The ASE last produced the crossover in early March 2011. The index then advanced 5.6 percent from March 8 through March 28.

The ASE soared 62 percent from its 2012 low on June 5 through Sept. 12 to 770.53. Since then the gauge has traded in a range between 734.99 and 780.94, forming a pattern called a pennant. Some technical analysts say that the formation marks a pause in a rally and constitutes a buy signal for investors.

“The recent pattern looks like a consolidation and the crossing of 50-day and 200-day moving averages is something that we classify as a golden cross, which is a very long-term trend following buy signal,” Michael Riesner, a technical analyst at UBS AG in Zurich wrote in an e-mail.

The ASE fell 0.4 percent to 777.48 at the close in Athens yesterday, halting two days of gains.

In technical analysis, investors and analysts study price graphs to predict changes in a security, commodity, currency or index.

[Bloomberg]