The indices ended the week on a weak note, closing near the lows for the day. That came after a very strong gap at the opening. based on positive earnings from Microsoft (MSFT). MSFT gapped up a couple points in the morning, and from that point on the indices immediately started selling off and sold off sharply in the morning, bounced mid-morning but couldn't get back above initial resistance, and then sold off in a sharp second leg going into mid-day.

By the afternoon they backed and filled and tried to base out, and did try a last hour rally that nominally broke out but then rolled over at the end. Last minute profit-taking and additional brought the indices to the lows for the day.

Net on the day the Dow was down 171.4, closing just above 12,200. The S&P 500 was down 21.46, just above 1330, and the Nasdaq 100 fell 37 3/4 to around 1789. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) lost 15 points from its high, after being up 9, closing down 6.56.

So a negative reversal after a strong opening and it left a lot to be desired, to say the least. A retest of important support was slightly violated on the Nasdaq 100 ,but held on the S&P 500 near 1330, and we'll have to see if they can right themselves and resume the rally next week after today's profit-taking type pullback.

The technicals were negative but by not as much as you'd think, by less than 3 to 2 on advance-declines on New York and only 8 to 7 on Nasdaq.

However, up/down volume told the story, with nearly a 3 to 1 negative ratio on New York on total volume of 1.85 billion. Nasdaq traded almost 2.6 billion, and had a 2 1/2 to 1 negative ratio there.

TheTechTrader.com board was mostly narrowly mixed, although there were some important changes. China Finance Online (JRJC) after yesterday's gain of 3.30 jumped another 3.01, closing at 18, so snapping back hard from its recent lows. It's already jumped from near 10 to over 18 just in the last 3 sessions.

DryShips (DRYS) gained 1.62 today, but TBS International (TBSI) was down 91 cents and Excel Maritime (EXM) was off 48 cents in a mixed shipping sector.

Junior solars were mostly mixed, too, and had fractional movement across the board at the close.

Other than that there were very few point-plus changes on our board, with Blue Phoenix (BPHX) up 1.07 and Cardica (CRDC) down 1.06. The QID, up 2.35, and the SDS, up 1.81, benefited from today's decline, as they are short ETF instruments.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices had a definitive negative day and a retesting session. The levels at which they closed are near key points that we'd like to see the indices hold and try to resume the rally from early next week.

That remains to be seen. The indices could go either way at this point and are at an important crossroads.

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.