The market had a very strong start to the session and was up sharply at the opening, but spent several hours meandering sideways in a consolidation formation. That remained until the Fed announcement, which saw the Fed raise rates 1/4 percent.  The initial reaction for the first 20 minutes or so was a sharp rally to new rally highs for the day.  Unfortunately, the indices stopped right at key overhead resistance and sold off just as sharply, if not more so.  They went all the way back to retest the opening gap on the Nasdaq 100 and not far from it on the S&P to secondary support.  Those levels did hold and resulted in a last half-hour snapback rally that brought the indices back sharply as well and closed right at resistance.

Net on the day the Dow was up 78 3/4, the S&P up 8 1/4, the NDX up more than 11, and the SOX 5.65.

The technicals were not very impressive, with about an 18 to 14 positive ratio on advance-declines on New York and only 15 to 14 on Nasdaq.  But the up/down volume was solid, particularly on New York where advancing volume was nearly a billion and declining volume less than 1/2 a billion, so more than a 2 to 1 ratio.  Total volume was over 1.4 billion.  Nasdaq volume was also about 1.4 billon with about a 9 to 5 positive ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was active and had some wide swings.  CryptoLogic (CRYP) got hammered today on reports of a potential loss of a major customer. The stock was down nearly 4 points on 4.8 million, but that was some 2.60 off the session low, as the stock had a strong afternoon snapback. 

Other stocks of note, Forward Industries (FORD) broke key short-term support and dropped 1.68 on more than 1 million shares, to 24.62.  Able Energy (ABLE) dropped 1.36, and Georesources (GEOI) down nearly a point.

Netflix (NFLX) dropped 42 cents, Kendle International (KNDL) 43 cents, and Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN) 36 cents.

On the plus side, Broadcom (BRCM) was up 1.08 today and acted well all session, closing near the high for the day. The QQQQ was up 26 cents and the SMH up 35 cents.

Most other stocks we follow were narrowly mixed today. 

In the alternative energy sector, Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) was up 63 cents, but Evergreen Solar (ESLR) was down 25 cents and DayStar Technologies (DSTI) down 22 cents.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the previous three-day decline, which broke the back of the four-week uptrend, put us in an oversold condition, resulting in today's early rally before the afternoon sell-off.

The overall pattern still represents a potentially bearish formation of a completed top and snapback to resistance here.

Key levels to watch are near today's highs:  the 1606-10 area on the Nasdaq 100 and the 1235-37 level on the S&P 500.  That represents overhead resistance.

Today's lows of around 1596 on the Nasdaq 100 and around the 1228 level on the S&P 500 are initial support to watch.  Below that, yesterday's three-day decline lows of around 1589-90 on the Nasdaq 100 and 1223 on the S&P will be important levels to monitor.

Good trading!

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.