It was an volatile session on Wednesday with a strong gap up at the opening, a sharp mid-day sell-off, and then a very strong snapback rally in the last hour that brought the indices into the plus column, except for the Dow.

Net on the day the Dow was down 20, the S&P 500 was up 2 3/4, and the Nasdaq 100 was up 28. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was pretty much responsible for that with a gain of more than 9, or nearly 2 percent.

The technicals did manage to get into the plus side in the last hour, but advance-declines were just 150 issues higher on the New York and only 200 issues higher on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was flat on New York with a little less than 1.4 billion traded. Nasdaq traded a heavy 2.3 billion today, with an 8 to 3 positive ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was mostly higher with some outstanding gainers. Chart of the Year pick from last December Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH) soared 10 1/2 points today, reaching as high as 90.95, closing at 88.05, still up 10.42 today. Chinese hotelier Home Inns & Hotels (HMIN) exploded and ran hard all session. Only in the last few minutes did it back off on profit-taking but still closed up 6.15 to 41.65.

VMware (VMW) was up 4.05 today, Excel Maritime (EXM) up 3.08, DryShips (DRYS) up 3.28, DG FastChannel (DGIT) up 2.47, and Ascent Solar (ASTI) up 1.86.

FuelTek (FTEK) had an outstanding performance on a contract announcement, up 4.78 to 33.52, and Sigma Designs (SIGM) was up 1.70.

Those were just a few of the strong winners on our board today. China Techfaith Wireless (CNTF) also gained 1.56 on more than 13 million shares traded today.

On the downside, junior biotech Exact Sciences(EXAS) dropped 1.30 on negative news from the FDA , although that was 1.25 off the earlier low, so it gained back about half its earlier losses. That was the only point-plus loser on my board today.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices, particularly the S&P and Dow, slipped to new pullback lows today. However,with a non-confirmation from the NDX, and a hold of support, the indices rallied sharply in the last hour to make up all their losses on most indices except for the Dow, and closed at the afternoon highs and just beneath declining tops resistance.

So we'll see if we get any further extension tomorrow, or if this was just a snapback rally fueled by short covering. Wednesdays of options expiration week are often volatile -- we certainly had that today.

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.