The indices had four definitive separate swings today, but at the end of the day a late sell-off closed them near the lows for the day.

The day started out with a rally from the get-go that failed within the first half hour and they rolled over hard for the next several hours, hit the session lows in the early afternoon. At that point they'd hit the bottom of their 3-day declining channels, which was support, and the indices staged a solid rally, taking the NDX from about the 1645 area up to nearly 1690, about a 44-point run, but in the last 35-40 minutes they rolled over and gave it all back. The same thing with the S&P 500, which jumped from 1186 to about 1213, only to give it back again in the last 30-40 minutes.

Net on the day the Dow was down 161.50, the S&P 500 just under 19, and the Nasdaq 100 a little more than 17 1/2. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) fell 5.85.

The technicals were negative by about 3 to 1 on advance-declines on New York and about 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 3 1/2 to 1 negative on New York on lighter total volume of about 1.15 billion. Nasdaq traded just under 2 billion and had a little less than 3 to 1 negative volume ratio .

Reviewing TheTechTrader.com board, Energy Conversion Devices (ENER), in particular, dropped 12.83 today on 6 million shares, closing near the low for the day. It was among stocks in the solar and alternative energy groups that got hammered due to what appears to be possible delay with the energy bill in Congress. Solarfun (SOLF) at 12.64 was down 1.39 and JA Solar (JASO) at 13.64 down 51 cents.

In the shipping sector, DryShips (DRYS) dropped 5.43 to 45.95, and Excel Maritime (EXM) dropped nearly 2 points today to just over 19.

Other stocks of note, Interoil (IOC) at 27.20 was down 1.49, Cree Inc. (CREE) dropped 1.11 to 26.35, but was about 1 1/2 off its mid-day low. Brigham Exploration (BEXP) gave back 1.03 to 12.70. And the USO, on the drop in crude oil, backed off 1.40.

On the plus side, the SDS was up 3.20, the QID 1.02, and the DUG gained 2.25.

Other stocks of note on the plus side, China Architectural (CAEI) at 7.41 was up 53 cents, Continental (CAL) gained 48 cents on the drop in oil, and Morgan Stanley (MS) gained 91 cents.

Focus Media (FMCN) had a strong session, jumping from just over 28 to just over 31, closing at 31.08, up 1.08, a 3-point reversal on heavy volume of 6 1/2 million.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices continued their slide after an early rally this morning rolled over, hit the bottom of the 3 day down channels by mid-day, bounced and had a nice sharp mid-day afternoon rally but gave it all back at the end of the day, and closed at the lows for the day going away. We'll see if they can extend to the downside tomorrow, or stem the tide near here and rally back.

Key overhead resistance now resides around the 1665-70 zone NDX and then the 1688-90 area. On the S&P 500 is 1200, 1205 and then 1213 are the three resistance levels to contend with.

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.