The market had a definite down-day today, as the indices started out with a down-gap with pre-market futures being moderately lower. They sold off all morning, hit the lows for the day late morning, had a nice rebound rally that failed at resistance, and then backed and filled into the close.

Net on the day, the Dow was down 39, the S&P 500 more than 7 1/2, and the Nasdaq 100 17 3/4. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was down nearly 2 3/4.

The technicals confirmed the negative session, with advance-declines about 22 to 11 negative on New York and about 20 1/2 to 8 1/2 on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was also negative, more than 2 to 1 on New York on light total volume of just over 1 billion. Nasdaq, also very light, traded about 1.4 billion, with nearly a 4 to 1 negative ratio on declining volume over advancing volume.

TheTechTrader.com board was mixed but mostly negative. Among the gainers, InfoSpace announced sale of some of their assets, and the stock jumped 4.13 today on 7 1/2 million shares.

Sigma Designs (SIGM) continued to power ahead, ignoring the lower market, closing at a new all-time high of 46.25, up 2.32.

China Medical Technologies (CMED) got back over 40 today, dipped a point off the high, but still closed up 1.11 at 39.70.

Portfolio position Taser (TASR) jumped 54 cents today, closing near its high for the session & at 7 day highs. It was our Chart of the Day. Chindex (CHDX) gained 31 cents.

On the downside, the loss leader by far was VMware (VMW), which gave back 4.22. Shipping stocks sank today, with DryShips (DRYS) down 1.47 and Excel Maritime (EXM) off 1.02.

Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH) fell 1.01, DG FastChannel (DGIT) 86 cents, and VASCO Data Security (VDSI) gave back 33 cents. Portfolio positions Telular Corp. (WRLS), Nuance Communications (NUAN) and Cepheid (CPHD) all lost 22 cents today.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, as indicated earlier we had a downside move that took out the short-term rising channels, and also violated short-term support on the NDX, not so on the SPX, but managed to bounce back and test resistance late in the session.

However, they did slip back near the close to end down on the session. We'll be watching today's lows for keys as to whether the market can hold support and right itself. But the way the week started out, it would not surprise me to see some additional downside action. However, until the FOMC announcement at 11:15 Eastern, we may get some lighter and narrower action.

Harry Boxer is a technical consultant to many Wall Street hedge funds and large institutional traders, and author of TheTechTrader.com, a real-time diary of his day, swing and intermediate-term trades. For more of Harry Boxer, sign up for a free 15-day trial to his Real-Time Technical Trading Diary, or sign up for a free 30-day trial to his Top Charts of the Week service.