The market tried to rally this morning, getting a strong surge from the get-go. They backed off on the Nasdaq 100 with the S&P 500 holding up much better, and then they surged to the session highs, reaching 1900 on the NDX but couldn't punch through. The SPX reached near 1276 but also couldn't punch through, and then for the next several hours they went into a steady slide lower, reaching the pullback lows on the Nasdaq 100 and matching the multi-week lows on the S&P 500 at the 1264 area, with the NDX reaching 1875. Over the last hour the indices did snap back, with the NDX bouncing about 12 points and the S&P around 9, and managed to get back into the plus column except for the NDX and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX).

Net on the day the Dow was up 26.62 and the S&P 500 4.68, but the Nasdaq 100 was down 3.40 and the SOXX was down 3.52, contributing to the NDX's pressure.

The technicals were positive by about 3 to 2 on advance-declines on New York and just 15 1/2 to 13 on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was about 5 to 3 positive on New York on total volume of a very light 840 million. Nasdaq traded about 1.4 billion and had a ratio of about 4 to 3 negative on advancing over declining volume.

As a result, TheTechTrader.com board was extremely mixed. On the plus side, A-Power Energy (APWR) snapped back 1.19 and closed at 19.17. That was it on our board for the point-plus gainers.

On the downside, FSYS broke the neckline of the 2-week head and shoulders top, with a move down 4.52, closing near 48.99 on 1.1 million traded. Canadian Solar (CSIQ) fell 1.76, and the DUG down 1.18. Focus Media (FMCN) dropped 1.27, JA Solar (JASO) 1.03, Solarfun (SOLF) 1.05 and SunPower (SPWR) 1.25, all in a very weak solar sector today.

On the plus side, the US Oil Fund ETF (USO) advanced 80 cents along with the price of oil. Fannie Mae (FNE) jumped 43 cents, although at one point was more than 20 cents higher on a whopping 159 million shares. Portfolio position GB jumped 59 cents. LEH advanced 58 cents and closed near the highs for the day. And Portfolio position VISN closed at 19.20, up 51 cents.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, on a listless day at the end of August the indices managed to close mixed. They were up in the morning, down strongly mid-day, and then snapped back at the end of the day to close back in the plus column on the blue chips.

Overall, however, today's lows on the Nasdaq 100 were right near key two-month support around the 1870-75 zone, with today's low at 1874.81. That's possibly why the indices managed to bounce late in the session along with the fact that the S&P has continually refused in the last 3-4 weeks to break the 1260-64 zone, which would be key short-term support.

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.