The market ended mixed to lower and the blue chips were a lot worse off than Nasdaq today. The NDX, in fact, managed to edge to the upside and close in positive territory.

The day was fairly volatile with the indices vacillating back and forth, although in the morning they failed to make any higher highs and continued to make lower lows, slipping mid-day to the lows for the entire move. They had seven different moves at that point, opening lower, rallying sharply but failing at the intraday moving averages. Another decline held the lows and then they rallied back up but made lower highs, and right at the 2 day declining tops lines and moving averages as well.

Slightly lower lows were not followed through mid-morning and then they rallied steadily but in what I would call a bear flag-type pattern. They then broke those flags and came down sharply reaching the lows for the day early afternoon at 1829 NDX and 1272 SPX before staging a strong comeback particularly on the NDX which rallied from 1830 to over 1860. The S&P rallied from the 1272 area to 1283 and failed to make higher highs in the afternoon like the Nasdaq 100 did. That caused a hesitancy on the NDX and they both backed and filled into the close.

Net on the day, however, the Dow did lose 107 points and the S&P 500 4.77, while the Nasdaq 100 was up 0.33. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was down a little less than a point.

The technicals did not make it back to the positive side on that rally, closing 3 to 2 negative on advance-declines on New York and a like amount on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was a little less than 2 to 1 negative on New York with total volume there of 2 1/4 billion. Nasdaq traded just under 3 billion shares today with a 3 to 2 negative ratio.

Heavy volume today may have been indicative of bottoming action or one approaching shortly, and with the oscillators as low as they were this morning and the indices as oversold as they were, we weren't surprised to see the late rally. In fact, as stated emphatically mid-session, we were expecting one.

TheTechTrader.com board was mixed to lower. Point-plus losers included several in the alternative energy & solars groups.Energy Conversion Devices (ENER), which is coming down sharply from its highs, closing at 71.32, down 5.48 today. Canadian Solar (CSIQ) in the weaker solar energy group got all the way down to 39.54 before rallying back late in the day and closing at 40.38, still down 2.51 today. A-Power Energy (APWR) lost 1.55 and Solarfun (SOLF) also in the solar group at 18.04 was down 1.18. Zoltek Companies (ZOLT) closing under 25 at 24.81 was down 1.19.

On the winning side, portfolio position Acordia Pharmaceuticals (ACOR) closed at 33.09, up 1.46 on 1 1/2 million to a new all-time high.

DryShips (DRYS) was firm in a positive shipping sector, up 1.37, and TBS International (TBSI) was up 1.86 and Excel Maritime (EXM) up 71 cents.

Other gainers of note, Chart of the Day Advanced Battery (ABAT) jumped 52 cents to 6.26 on nearly 7 million shares today and broke out to a new 7-month high.

Junior oils were mixed, with Mexco Energy (MXC) up 95 cents, Pyramid Oil (PDO) up 1.13 and Royale Energy (ROYL) down 44 cents. Northern Oil & Gas (NOG) fell 28 cents and Brigham Exploration (BEXP) up 67 cents.

So, it was a mixed sector there for the junior oils, despite the gain in oil, although oil did come way off its session & new all time high at 142.99 reached earlier in the session, closing near 140.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices extended their losses, reaching new multi-week pullback lows ,but snapped back sharply in the afternoon. Then they backed and filled into the close over the last hour, failing to make further progress, closing with losses for the most part other than the NDX.

We'll see if today's action was significant as the beginning of a basing phase or just a stop on the way to lower levels.

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.