It was a rather listless and dull session despite the fact that the indices ended to the plus side and that technicals weren't bad. Overall volume was about average, maybe a tad less. There was some volatility, but within a narrow range.

The day started out with a gap up, a strong morning surge, particularly on the Nasdaq 100, but then they brought them back very quickly and tried to retest the lows and made higher lows. At that point they had a 3-wave rally into early afternoon and then pulled back rather sharply again, but held secondary support and then bounced in the last hour.

Net on the day the Dow was up 46, the S&P 500 up 7 1/2, and the Nasdaq 100 up 14 1/3. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was up 4.66 today.

The technicals were positive by about 3 to 1 on advance-declines on both exchanges. Up/down volume was about 2 to 1 positive on New York on about 1 1/2 billion traded, and Nasdaq traded a little less than 1 3/4 billon and had about a l2 to 5 positive ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was mostly narrowly unchanged, but there were some point-plus gainers and losers. On the plus side, the gainer by far today was Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX), one of our old favorites, which jumped 5.23 today on 17.7 million on positive drug news. It was our Chart of the Day today.

In addition, Ascent Solar (ASTI) continues its phenomenal run, more than doubling in the last week and up another 1.35 today on 1 million shares.

There were several large fractional gainers. FuelTek (FTEK) gained 93 cents, Cree Inc. (CREE) 85 cents, and CLWR 40 cents. DCR, one of our portfolio positions, gained 73 cents on a sharp drop in oil.

GeoResources (GEOI), one of our recent Charts of the Week, was up 45 cents. Rambus (RMBS) gained 56 cents, and Global Solutions (GSOL) 37 cents.

On the downside, DryShips (DRYS) gave back 2.40 today. Excel Maritime (EXM) fell 1.56 and TBS International (TBSI) 80 cents in a weak shipping sector.

China Natural Resources (CHNR) fell 83 cents, Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH) 37 cents, China Finance Online (JRJC) 46 cents, and YTEC 70 cents in a weak Chinese sector as well.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices meandered back and forth in fairly narrow ranges but ended up on the plus side after a strong start. After six days of declining prices, the indices still have failed to break out above the declining tops lines and moving averages, and until they do that the trend is still down.

However, after six days we are certainly due for a stronger snapback rally or retracement.

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.