How to recognize the Piercing Line candle?

Appears at the bottom of a downtrend. Candle 1: a large bearish candle with a solid body. Candle 2: opens at or below the close of the first (a gap down strengthens the signal).

Is the Piercing Line candle bullish or bearish?

A bullish reversal pattern made of two candles. Confirmation: optional (>70%). Its reference success rate is 61%. Spot it yourself on live daily candles for any symbol in the subscriber technical terminal.

Bullish signal ▲ · pattern 11

Piercing Line

The Piercing Line (Piercing Line) is a two-candle bullish reversal pattern. The first candle is a large bearish one. The second opens at or below the close of the first, then rises strongly to close above the midpoint of the first body, recovering more than half of the previous session loss.

PATTERN ID

Signal Bullish ▲

Reliability ★★★☆☆

Win Rate 61%

Expected move +3–7%

Timeframe Daily

Confirmation Optional (>70%)

The short answer

What is the Piercing Line candle?: The Piercing Line (Piercing Line) is a two-candle bullish reversal pattern. The first candle is a large bearish one.
How to recognize the Piercing Line candle?: Appears at the bottom of a downtrend. Candle 1: a large bearish candle with a solid body. Candle 2: opens at or below the close of the first (a gap down strengthens the signal).
Is the Piercing Line candle bullish or bearish?: A bullish reversal pattern made of two candles. Confirmation: optional (>70%). Its reference success rate is 61%. Spot it yourself on live daily candles for any symbol in the subscriber technical terminal. Open the technical terminal →

Pattern illustration

The second candle closes clearly above the midpoint of the first candle's body

How to identify the pattern

Step-by-step checks

Appears at the bottom of a downtrend
Candle 1: a large bearish candle with a solid body
Candle 2: opens at or below the close of the first (a gap down strengthens the signal)
Candle 2 closes above the midpoint (50%) of the body of candle 1
A penetration above 70% is a high-confidence, self-confirming signal

Trading psychology

The power struggle between buyers and sellers

The decline continues with a strong selling session. The next day opens lower and the bears look fully in charge. Then buyers step in aggressively and push price back through the whole range of the previous session, closing above the midpoint. This dramatic reversal points to a basic shift in the balance of power.

Outlook and confirmation

Entry conditions and expected price move

Optional, adds confidence

61% success rate for a rise of +3–7% within 5–10 days. Self-confirming on a penetration above >70% of the body of candle 1. For a penetration between 50–70%, wait for a third bullish candle.

Ideal setting for the pattern

Bottom of a downtrend

Recommended timeframe: daily

Where to find it on the platform

Technical terminal for members
Shows the daily-timeframe candles for any symbol on the platform's list. You identify the pattern by eye: the terminal does not name it.

How it is traded in practice

The Piercing Line is a pair at the bottom of a decline: a strong red candle, then a green one that gaps down at the open and closes above the midpoint of the first body. Penetrating past the midpoint is the core of the pattern. Short of it, it becomes a much weaker Thrusting Line (Thrusting Line). A conservative approach waits for the close of the second candle or a third confirming candle, with the stop-loss below the low of the green candle (the lowest point of the rejection). The deeper the penetration toward the top of the first candle, the closer the pattern gets to the strength of a full engulfing.

Common mistake

Accepting a second candle that closes below the midpoint: that weaker version has another name and a much weaker record, and strictness on the midpoint rule is what protects the pattern statistics. Ignoring the bearish opening gap on the second candle: it is part of the pattern (a last wave of selling, then a turn), and without it the signal is weaker.