ANALYSIS - Equities to sail higher to year end: chartists

By Simon Falush

LONDON (Reuters) - Global equity markets will consolidate gains this summer with chartists predicting that a sharp rise since March has run its course for now, but technical signals have set the stage for another rally into year-end.

The FTSEurofirst 300 was on track to post its 10th successive day of gains on Friday, while the Nasdaq rose for 12 days until Thursday and is up 25 percent for the year.

The staggering 41 percent rally from a lifetime low set in March for the European benchmark index has left even the most ardent bulls out of breath, technical analysts said.

"Because of the overbought signals, our bias is not to get too excited yet," said Phil Roberts, chief European technical strategist at Barclays Capital.

"The chances are we are going to have to range-trade to unwind the overbought signals."

However, any pause in the rally is likely to be short-lived according to technical analysts, who deliver views on the market outlook based on the past performance of securities or indexes using measures such as moving averages and Elliott wave patterns.

Barring any significant pull-back, a move back to levels last seen before the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September is on the cards for major markets around the world, Roberts said.