ASX index sheds 18.2 points (-0.25%) as market bears take the reigns

Trading is currently halted for Easter Monday but will resume tomorrow. Meanwhile, here is a recap of Thursday: ASX dipped as low as 7,199.7 before recovering some lost ground. However, the rebound failed to push the stock to where it started the session (7,237.2) with ASX closing the day at 7,219.

Despite being in the red so far in the current trading session, ASX 200 peaked above its 10 day Simple Moving Average around 7,244.47 — typically an early indicator of a new bullish trend beginning to emerge. ASX's lower Bollinger Band® is at 7,127.65, indicating that the asset has overextended to the downside and could, therefore, bounce back as buyers look for bargains. ASX could begin to recover as it approaches significant support, now 27.63 points away from 7,191.37. Dipping below could be an indication that further losses are ahead. Despite this, a "bearish engulfing" pattern — a scenario when a larger red candle engulfs a smaller green candle, at the top of a prevailing uptrend. Typically this is a signal of lower prices in the near term. After descending below strong Fibonacci support at 7,215.45, market bears have earmarked 7,109.6 as the next downside target.

Overall, looking at the technical analysis landscape, it seems ASX might start pointing upward in the short term.

Other assets are showing positive performances as FTSE goes up 1.03% Thursday and closed at 7,663. KOSPI Composite Index went up by 0.81% Thursday, and closed at 2,510.67. Nasdaq moves up 0.76% Thursday and closed at 12,000.

Furthermore, Australia Westpac Consumer Sentiment (Apr) will be released tomorrow at 00:30 UTC. Australia NAB Business Confidence (Mar) is expected tomorrow at 01:30 UTC.

The index has been trending lower for about 2 months. ASX has appreciated 8.1% over the past six months.