Today was a nasty day for the bulls and a volatile one.  The indices started out with a real nice gap up and went to new snapback rally highs, especially so in the blue chips. But the market just didn't act right, and Nasdaq trailed in the morning.  Even when the S&P and Dow went to nominal new highs in the late morning, the NDX didn't follow.  The markets rolled over sharply as the lunch hour began, and even though they bounced a couple times, they went down quite sharply in the afternoon, giving back some 28 points on the Nasdaq 100 at one point and 16 points on the S&P 500. 

A last half-hour snapback did occur that took them off the lows, but net on the day the Dow was down 21 points, but that was 125 points off the high.  The S&P 500 was down 2.25 and some 13 1/2 points off the high.  The Nasdaq 100 was down 15 1/2 and a whopping 25 points off the high.  The SOX Index was down 5 3/4 and a like amount off the high.

So, complete reversals in the afternoon, and the downtrend that began last week and saw a snapback yesterday appears to have resumed today, leaving behind some very toppy-looking formations.

The technicals were still positive on New York by 18 to 14 on advance-declines and 8 to 7 on up/down volume with about 1.6 billion traded.  But Nasdaq was decidedly lower, with advance-declines around 17 to 13 negative and up/down volume around 2 to 1 negative on about 1.8 billion traded.

Reviewing TheTechTrader.com board, there was some volatility there as well.  The SOX Index and the SMH were down today, led by Broadcom (BRCM), down 1.39, a complete reversal after a new rally high earlier in the morning.

Other stocks of note on the downside, Dynamic Materials (BOOM) gave back 71 cents, Able Energy (ABLE) got hammered for 87 cents, and Georesources (GEOI) was down 41 cents.

Alternative energy stocks as well were weak, with Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) off 55 cents and DayStar Technologies (DSTI) 43 cents.

On the plus side, Forward Industries (FORD) rallied back 2 points but gave back half of that, closing up 1.05 on the day, but most other stocks were up just very small fractions.

Kendle International (KNDL) was up 56 cents today in a snapback off yesterday's loss.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the rally ran smack dab into overhead resistance on Nasdaq 100 right at 1610, which is not only price but moving average resistance on the hourly charts, and sold off sharply with a very steep sell-off in second half of the session.

The S&P approached its key double-top around 1245, reaching as high as 1242.7, and then sold off very sharply as well.  Since the indices reached the bottom of their down-channels and near price support, there may be some additional snapback rallies tomorrow.

Overhead resistance to watch on the NDX is around the 1595-96 zone, and then the 1600-1603 area.  S&P 500 resistance is around 1232-34 and then around the 1238 zone.

Those are the levels we'll be watching tomorrow.  On the support side, 1580, was nearly tested today on the NDX and should be watched, and then the S&P key support right now is the 1220-22 zone.

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.