The markets had a very strong snapback session from the consolidation of the last couple sessions and yesterday's late sell-off. The indices snapped back in the morning, pulled back mid-morning, and then rallied into early afternoon before another pullback occurred. They then had the strongest leg of the day when they burst up, taking the NDX from 1154 to 1190 in the last 90 minutes or so. The SPX went from 762 to 777 Ã,½ in the same period of time.

The net result was a 5-wave bull rally today, closing at the highs for the day going away. The Dow was up 179 to 7395.70, the S&P 500 up 24.23 to 778.12, and the Nasdaq 100 up 46.72 to 1192.17. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was up 8.75, about 4 percent, to 220.91.

Advance-declines were 4 to 1 positive on New York and 3 1/2 to 1 positive on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 10 to 1 positive on New York on total volume of just under 1.5 billion. Nasdaq traded about 2.1 billion and had about a 12 to 1 positive volume ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board as a result of the rally had an exceptional up-day. Leading the way were market leaders, with Apple (AAPL) up 4.24, Amazon (AMZN) up 4.37, and Best Buy (BBY) up 2.58. Potash (POT) gained up 2 to 77.91.

Financials were positive, with JP Morgan (JPM) up 2.05 to 25.14 on 100 million. Wells Fargo (WFC) jumped 96 cents to 14.66 on 145 million. Morgan Stanley (MS) was up 77 cents to 23.81

Other gainers of note, portfolio position Sequenom (SQNM) was up 1.01 to 15.02 on 1.6 million. Cree Inc. (CREE) jumped 90 cents to 22.30. Portfolio position DG FastChannel (DGIT) was up 57 cents to 16.20. General Electric (GE) advanced to 34 cents to close at 10, on 150 million today.

Starent Networks (STAR), another portfolio position, at 172.9 was up 48 cents. Net 1 Ueps Technologies (UEPS) at 13.96 was up 34 cents.

The Ultra Oil & Gas ProShares (DIG) was up 1.43, and U.S. Oil Fund ETF (USO) up 1.19 on firm oil prices today.

The ultrashort ETFs led the losers, with the SRS ultrashort real estate ETF down 10.90 to 61.32. The Direxion Financial Bear 3x Shares (FAZ) at 35.59 was down 7.04, and the Direxion Large Cap Bear 3X Shares (BGZ) fell 7.06 to 72.38.

In addition, Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) got slam-dunked after withdrawing their guidance and getting downgraded, falling 4.28 to 14.15 on 10.9 million shares.

SunPower (SPWR) lost 2.40 to 20.91, as some of the solar stocks were under pressure. However, portfolio position Canadian Solar (CSIQ), despite being down to 3 1/2 in the morning, closed 4 at the high for the day going away on 860,000 shares, up 12 cents on the day to a new multi-week high.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, it was a terrific session for the bulls, as yesterday's pullback ended right at the rising moving averages on the hourly charts. That held, and the indices took off in a 5-wave advance, closing at the highs for the day going away.

The bulls couldn't ask for much more, especially the way it closed. We'll see if there's a follow-through tomorrow. Levels we'll be keeping an eye on tomorrow are overheard resistance around 1200 on the NDX. We're about 8 points from there. The SPX has yet to take out the 778-80 area, closing at 778 today. If that's taken out the next overhead resistance is around the 800-05 zone on the SXP.

If 1200 is taken out on the NDX, we'll be watching the 1240-50 zone. So we're in the midst of a strong rally here.

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.