The indices suffered a setback today after three consecutive days on the upside. They opened sharply lower, particularly on the Nasdaq 100, and then both indices rallied shortly thereafter but failed, rolled over, and went lower the rest of the day in very orderly stair-step fashion, and in a very distinct down-channel . They did manage to have the sharpest rally of the day, late in the session but rolled over again in the last half hour, and gave it all back.

Net on the day, the Dow was down 175, the S&P 500 18 1/3, and the Nasdaq 100 nearly 35 1/2. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was down about 3 percent, down 10.23.

The technicals were very negative, by 4 to 1 on advance-declines on New York, and by 3 to 1 on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 4 1/2 to 1 negative on New York on total volume of just 1.4 billion. Nasdaq traded a little over 2.2 billion and had a 4 to 1 negative ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was mixed, with some point-plus gainers and losers. On the plus side, DryShips (DRYS) was up 2.05 in a firm shipping sector. TBS International (TBSI) was up 1.17, and Excel Maritime (EXM) advanced 41 cents.

Recent Chart of the Week Chindex (CHDX) advanced another 1.49 to another new all-time high, closing at 43.36. Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH) was up 1.19.

Dendreon (DNDN) advanced 49 cents, and Canadian Solar (CSIQ) advanced 20 cents in a weak to mixed solar energy group.

On the downside, point-plus losers included Mercadolibre (MELI) down 1.36, Sigma Designs (SIGM) 1.31, China Natural Resources (CHNR) 1.36, and Cipotle Mexican Grill (CMG ) was off 1.05, but it closed 6 points off its session high on a negative reversal and got clobbered for an additional $15 in the after market after releasing a disappointing earnings report.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices halted their advance, suffering the first losses for the week, and closing near the lows for the day going away.

This does not augur well for tomorrow, which is options expiration day, but we'll see if they're able to stem the tide.

The S&P 500 did close right near its moving average support on the hourly charts, with the NDX just a little bit beneath them, so we do have an opportunity to halt the slide, but today was a definitive down day.

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.