Astral Limited: Crafting Trading Strategies Through Technical Analysis

In 2023, an experienced buy-side technical research analyst at a leading portfolio management service firm in India was tasked by his manager with preparing a detailed technical analysis report on the Indian company Astral Limited (Astral), which produced plastic products for building materials. The stock had appeared on the technical screener forming a bullish engulfing candlestick pattern, which indicated a potential upward trend. While conducting his analysis with charting software, the analyst also identified an inverted head-and-shoulders pattern—a strong signal that often preceded a breakout. Sectorial technical screens also showed that stocks of plastic products had risen by two to five per cent in the past week. With these technical indicators in place, he started to dig deeper into Astral’s movement. He needed to determine the extent of the stock’s potential.