The market ended mixed to close the week out, with Nasdaq performing strongly all session and the blue chips being weak for most of the session and that's where they ended. They did start out with a morning rally that was a 5-wave affair that ended right at key overhead resistance on the Nasdaq 100 near 1780. With the S&P 500 falling short, they then rolled over, sold off into early afternoon, hit the lows for the day in the early part of the afternoon, and then had a three wave snapback rally that closed the NDX not far off the highs, with the S&P falling far short of those and trailing most of the session.

Net on the day the Dow was down a little less than 65 and the S&P 500 was off 5.62, but the Nasdaq 100 gained 20 1/2 and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was up 2.19.

The technicals were negative by 3 to 2 on advance-declines on the NYSE and a little better than that on Nasdaq. Up/down volume, however, was positive on Nasdaq by 2 to 1, but yet negative on New York by 9 to 5, so a mixed picture. Total volume was 2.2 billion on Nasdaq and a little under 1 1/2 billion on New York.

TheTechTrader.com board was active and mostly higher today. Portfolio position Chindex (CHDX) exploded for 4.22, and was exited today, closing at 37.74, after releasing a strong earnings report.

Shippers were strong again today, with DryShips (DRYS) advancing 2.53, Excel Maritime (EXM) 2.50, and TBS International (TBSI) up 85 cents.

Other stocks of note, China Natural Resources (CHNR) was up 84 cents, Canadian Solar (CSIQ) up 48 cents in a mixed junior solar energy sector, recent Chart of the Week Phoenix Technologies (PTEC) gained 54 cents, and yesterday’s chart of the day Cree Inc. (CREE) advanced 42 cents.

On the downside, there were no point-plus losers, and most stocks that were down were just lower by small fractions.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the Nasdaq 100 ran up to both price and declining moving average resistance on the hourly charts near 1780 and failed twice to get through. However, it did close not far from there at the end of the day. The S&P 500 trailed a bit, but is also below its declining moving average and price resistance up near the 1345-50 zone on the hourly chart.

So we'll see if they can punch through that on Monday, or whether they'll continue lower. Right now the trend remains lower, but is attempting to base out in this range.

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.