The markets had a down day at the close, trading in a fairly narrow range for most of the session. They did have a morning snapback rally from early losses, but drifted lower for the rest of the afternoon, staying within the confines of a several-day down-channel.

The indices failed at resistance but held support, and ended up down on the session, with the Dow down 71.86, the S&P 500 down 10.18, and the Nasdaq 100 off 7.78. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) did manage to gain 0.49, the only index on my board on the plus side.

The technicals were decidedly negative by better than 2 1/2 to 1 on New York and a little less than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. Up/down volume, however, was 3 1/2 to 1 negative on New York and about 2 1/2 to 1 negative on Nasdaq. Total volume was heavier on Nasdaq today, with more than 2 billion traded. New York traded only a little more than 1.2 billion.

TheTechTrader.com board was mostly negative, with fractional losses for most stocks. There were only a few point-plus movers. On the plus side, Yucheng Technologies (YTEC) jumped 3.20, an exceptional day despite the softness by some stocks in the China group. It was our Chart of the Day.

VMware (VMW) , which got down as low as 95, closed at 99.90, up 1.14 in a reversal day there. Yesterday's Chart of the Day, EXAS, gained 51 cents on nearly 840,000 shares. China Precision Steel (CPSL) on earnings was up 91 cents and Chindex (CHDX) 53 cents. The SDS was up 50 cents and QID up 19 cents, but in the aftermarket Yahoo (YHOO) and Intel (INTC) beat earnings and were both up sharply, and with the futures up sharply as well, we can expect a firm opening tomorrow.

On the downside, CHNR dropped 1.84, Excel Maritime (EXM) 1.31, and DryShips (DRYS) had a big reversal day, making new all-time highs over 130 but closing at 118 1/2, down 8.27 in a weak shipping sector today. Sigma Designs (SIGM) was off 1.13.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices remained in a downward trend, especially on the S&P 500, which was down for its fourth session in a row. The charts look more negative on the S&P and Dow than on Nasdaq. Until we get confirmation from Nasdaq, the downtrend can continue but is somewhat suspect.

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.