We had another somewhat volatile session with a lot of churning and back-and-forth action, though not as volatile as yesterday. The indices all ended down on the day, led by Nasdaq.

The day started out with a move lower. Within the first half hour the indices rallied sharply, took out minor resistance on the S&P 500 but had no confirmation from the NDX. Then they sold off the next several hours, hit the session lows with about an hour and a half to go, and then snapped back in the last 90 minutes, closing way off the lows. The Nasdaq trailed the S&P in the afternoon rally.

Net on the day the Dow was down just 3.33 and the S&P 500 off 1.48, but the Nasdaq 100 was down 27. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) fell 9.32, pressuring the NDX lower.

The technicals were on the downside today, much more so on Nasdaq where up/down volume was nearly 3 to 1 negative on total volume of a hefty 2.8 billion. Advance-declines were 3 to 2 negative. New York was a different story, with a little less than 8 to 7 negative ratio on declining volume over advancing volume. Total volume was about 1.6 million, and advance-declines were lower by only about 80 issues.

TheTechTrader.com board was mixed. The star of the day was VMware (VMW), which announced earnings last night. The stock was up 10.48 on nearly 10 million shares, closing at 114. Not bad for an IPO three months ago at 28.

China Medical Technologies (CMED) gained 2.66, and Superconductor (SCON) jumped 75 cents to another new multi-year high on 2.7 million shares, closing at 11.70. That was our Chart of the Day yesterday. Chinese hotelier Home Inns & Hotels (HMIN) gained 77 cents, EPAY was up 37 cents to a new 2-year high, and Ascent Solar (ASTI) jumped 62 cents.

On the downside, Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH) fell 2.67, Cree Inc. (CREE) 1.69, Eschelon Corp. (ELON) 1.73, Global Solutions (GSOL) 1.01 after yesterday's big gain, and Nuance Communications (NUAN) 1.23.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, we had some volatility over the last three sessions, with the indices bouncing back and forth roughly between 2140 and 2200 on the Nasdaq 100 and between 1490 and 1520-23 zone on the S&P. It will be interesting to see on Friday if they resolve it either way. But I have a feeling we're going to remain within the confines of those trading ranges until next week.

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.