Just an outstanding day for the bulls. The market exploded from the get-go in a large gap opening and ramped up all morning. There were a couple periods of consolidation and flagging-type action, but the indices never even broke their intraday trendlines and moving averages on the 5 minute charts, and kept moving higher, exploding into the close, and closing at the exact high of the day going away. A monster day for the bulls!

The Dow was up 341 1/2, the S&P 500 up 44 1/2, and the Nasdaq 100 up 73 1/2. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) gained 14 1/2, and even the OEX was up 21 3/4, a big move for that index.

The technicals were extremely strong by more than 5 to 1 on advance-declines on New York and more than 3 to 1 on Nasdaq. Up/down volume, however, was the story today, 10 to 1 positive on both exchanges. Volume was about average, with a total of about 1 2/3 billion on New York and about 2.1 billion on Nasdaq.

TheTechTrader.com board, as you can imagine, was mostly higher, but particularly with about an hour to go, most stocks I follow were just fractionally higher, which is quite unusual, but they did manage to edge higher and close very firmly.

Financial stocks across the board were strong, starting with MBI, up 1.26. WM gained 1 and CIT 1.12.

Other point-plus gainers included Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH), which soared 3.47 to 43.90. DryShips (DRYS) gained 1.65, TBS International (TBSI) 1.77 and Excel Maritime (EXM) 65 cents in the generally firm shipping group.

Solar energy stocks were mixed, although one of our favorites Canadian Solar (CSIQ) was up 1.09 today.

JA Solar (JASO) was up 27 cents, Solarfun (SOLF) up 25 cents, and Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) up 1.20 to 31.10 and looking very good technically.

Portfolio position Chindex (CHDX), which splits 3 for 2 tomorrow, closed at 38.90, up 1.14. Sigma Designs (SIGM) gained 1.26, UEPS 1.24 and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) up another 1.72.

On the downside, fractional losses included portfolio position FEED down 70 cents and DCR, with the rise in oil today, down 34 cents. COIN also lost 49 cents and Ascent Solar (ASTI) 38 cents, giving back on some profit-taking after reaching nearly 18 today, closing at 16.13. FuelTek (FTEK) lost 50 cents and CLWR 16 cents.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, it was a key session today, as the indices exploded across their moving averages on their hourly charts, took out the 6-day declining channels, and moved to 3-month highs on the Nasdaq 100 and 5-week highs on the S&P 500.

It's very likely we extend this as this was a key move. However, the Nasdaq 100 is testing the late January rally highs up near the 1860-65 zone, and that'll probably be done early tomorrow morning.

The S&P has resistance in the 1385-95 zone from the January-February highs, so those are the levels we'll be keeping an eye on tomorrow.

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.