The indices ended on a very positive note after some session volatility that saw the indices up sharply in the morning, down sharply in mid-afternoon, and then back sharply higher in the closing hour .

A late afternoon strong surge brought the indices back after a mid-day plunge retested the lows successfully. The indices closed at the highs for the day going away on a burst into the close, a very positive day for the bulls as they took control from the bears late in the session.

Net on the day the Dow was up 215 1/2, the S&P 500 21 +, and the Nasdaq 100 44.40. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was up 8.22, around 2 percent.

The technicals were positive by 2 to 1 on advance-declines on New York but by just 380 issues on the Nasdaq, a pretty narrow advance there. However, the up/down volume told the story, which was much more positive, by more than 4 to 1 on Nasdaq on total volume of 2.15 billion. New York had a 3 to 1 positive ratio on total volume of a little over 1.6 billion.

TheTechTrader.com board was very mixed, with some strong positive gainers, particularly in the shipping stocks, which led the way higher. DryShips (DRYS) gained more than 6 today, Excel Maritime (EXM) up 4.04, and TBS International (TBSI) up 1.53.

Other stocks of note, VMware (VMW) snapped back 6.14 from recent losses. Sigma Designs (SIGM) jumped 2.61 ahead of earnings tomorrow.

Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH) gained 3.05, Chindex (CHDX) 1.56, Cepheid (CPHD) 1.19, and the QQQQ's advanced 98 cents today.

On the downside, China Finance Online (JRJC) continued getting hammered, dropping 2.25. China Medical Technologies (CMED) was down 1.50. BIDZ.com (BIDZ) got crushed for the second day in a row, losing 50% of its price in the last two days off of yesterday morning's sharp rally, after a very negative article was published on it.

The SDS dropped 1.92 today, the QID 1.60.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, despite the sharp rally the indices on the hourly charts closed right at key resistance at the 3-week declining tops lines on the Nasdaq 100 and below the declining tops line and right at the declining moving average resistance on the 60-minute chart.

So we'll see if there's a follow-through tomorrow, which will be key to see if we've put in an important bottom or not.

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.