The markets had a very intriguing and interesting session. Despite the fact that the indices were mostly lower, a lot of our stocks were up today. Advance-declines on Nasdaq were up versus down on the NYSE, so it was a very mixed picture.

The day started out with the indices going back and forth, and then finally rolling over to new 3 day pullback lows over, reaching the bottom of their short term down channels by late morning. Then they bounced around for an hour and looked like they were forming bear flags, but a surge right after lunch hour broke the indices back out intraday, and then they rallied rather strongly for the next hour and reached new session highs with about 45 minutes to go. However, in the last 45 minutes or so they sold off and gave back about half the gains.

Just in the last 10 minutes ,did they bounce again, and that bounce put the NDX back into positive territory. Net on the day the Dow was down 109.51 and the S&P 500 down 3.76, but the Nasdaq 100 managed to gain 0.95. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was down 2.19.

Advance-declines were 17 to 13 negative on New York but 15 to 13 positive on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was negative by 7 to 5 on New York on total volume of just over 1.2 billion. Nasdaq traded very close to 2 billion and had a ratio of about 11 to 9 negative on advancing over declining volume.

TheTechTrader.com board had a surprisingly strong day today considering the weaker indices with many point-plus gainers. Shippers were particularly strong today. DryShips (DRYS)gained 6.63, Excel Maritime (EXM) at 39.28, up 4.06 on 2.4 million, breaking out across the declining tops line and moving averages. It had an important technical day, and we'll highlight that as our Chart of the Day in our video chart presentation tonight.

Sunday's Chart of the Week Innophos Holdings (IPHS) jumped 3.03 and closed at 40.98. Portfolio position Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) jumped 2.02 to 67.64, and recent Chart of the Week Almost Family (AFAM) at 40.89 was up 2.74.

The USO snapped back 2.45, as crude oil surged back today.

Other gainers of note, portfolio position Sequenom (SQNM) had an excellent session, gaining 1.70 on nearly 2 million shares, closing at 21.41.

China Natural Resources (CHNR) announced an acquisition and jumped 1.04. Brigham Exploration (BEXP) on the surge back in oil today jumped 1.48. And Northern Oil & Gas (NOG) jumped 94 cents.

General Steel (GSI) snapped back 69 cents today, closing at 12.79. AgFeed Industries (FEED) jumped 59 cents to 13.48. Emcore (EMKR) had a big percentage gain to 5.70, up 58 cents, on nearly 5 million shares today, and Solarfun (SOLF) in a mixed solar energy sector jumped 99 cents. Portfolio position Canadian Solar (CSIQ) came out with earnings that were just a tad disappointing, and the stock got hammered in the morning, but came back nicely, jumping about 2 1/2 off its low, but still closing down 1.34 on heavy volume of 8.6 million.

Other losses of note, Mercadolibre (MELI) was down 1.43, and United Airlines (UAUA) lost 1.24. Those were the point-plus losers today, along with the DUG, which dropped as the price of oil snapped back, closing at 36.30, down 2.38.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices came down, in the case of the Nasdaq 100, testing its rising 40-day moving average on the hourly chart. In the case of the S&P 500, it neared its 4-week trendline, but held that level and bounced mid-day, saving the day. However, they did sell off rather sharply and took back half the rally gains late in the session, but did manage to close mixed on the day.

So, we'll see if overhead resistance at the 1955-60 zone the Nasdaq 100, and at the 1295-1300 zone on the S&P 500 can be dealt with and taken out over the next day or two, or whether they provide to much formidable resistance & send the indices 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.