We had an up-day for the most part, but it was kind of a choppy session. The indices started very strongly with a gap up. The Nasdaq 100 reached 2090 right from the get-go, a new multi-year high. Then they backed and filled for the first hour in consolidative form and then broke out mid-morning, reaching the highs for the day on the Nasdaq 100 at 2095, The S&P 500 at that point reached about 1528, just underneath key resistance at 1530-31. They consolidated again for about 1-1 1/2 hours, and when they couldn’t breakout they rolled over and made new pullback lows, but still were in the plus column at that point. Then a late afternoon rally brought them back to new highs on the S&P 500, but that failed to be confirmed by the NDX, and in the last 30 minutes or so they pulled back.

Net on the day the Dow was up 99 1/2. The S&P 500 was up 8 1/4 and the Nasdaq 100 11 1/2. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was down 1.54, and put a damper on the Nasdaq 100, particularly in the afternoon. However, technicals were positive with advaqnce/declines ahead by 5 to 3 on New York and 3 to 2 on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was positive by 2 to 1 on New York and a bit less than that on Nasdaq. Total volume was heavier on Nasdaq, pushing 2 billion, but the NYSE volume was only a little more than 1 1/4 billion.

TheTechTrader.com board was mixed with several point-plus winners and losers. Shipping stocks took it on the chin today, with Excel Maritime (EXM), which was strong in the morning and nearly reached 60, closing near 53 1/2, down 4.64. DryShips (DRYS), likewise, reached up near 90, closing at 85, off 2 1/2.

Among other point-plus losers, Superconductor Technologies (SCON), which had exploded recently, after reaching as high as 10.90 this morning, reversed sharply lower and closed at 8 1/2, down 1.38 in a big high-volume reversal. Chindex (CHDX) lost 1.13 today.

Chinese stocks were mixed, with China Finance Online (JRJC) having another fantastic session again, up 4.41, having now surged from around 9 to 35 in just one month. Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH) gained 1.29, China Medical Technologies (CMED) up 1.50, e-Future Information Technology (EFUT) up 1.60, and Home Inns & Hotels (HMIN) up 1.53.

Global Solutions (GSOL), one of our old favorites, was up nearly 2 points today, and portfolio position UEPS jumped 1.29 and is near a KEY 7-month resistance level.

Among solar stocks, SPWR gained 1.69 and LDK up 3.74. But there were fractional losses in some others, so a mixed picture in the solar group today.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices gapped up, then meandered back and forth in a consolidative nature but did not break down or break out. Despite more new multi-year highs on the Nasdaq 100, the S&P has still has failed to break out and confirm it.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings, but we are now nearing a historically poor performance point seasonally & could start to see some weakness after the first week of October.

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.