It was a volatile mixed session for most of the day, but at the end of the session the indices closed near the lows for the day and negative on the session.

The day started out with a move downward which held last week's lows. They then rallied mid-day to test resistance but failed to break out, then sold off mid-afternoon.  In the last 1 1/2 hours or so they bounced around, but rolled over at the very end and closed near the lows for the day.

Net on the day the Dow was down 53 1/2, the S&P 8 1/2, the Nasdaq 100 nearly 9 and the SOX Index down a whopping 15 points, or nearly 4 percent, and that's what really pressured the market today.  Some of the semiconductors were downgraded and lower today on the session for the most part, and put a lot of pressure on Nasdaq & the techs.

The technicals were decidedly negative by 23 to 9 1/2 on New York, and a little less than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq.  Up/down volume was very negative on New York by more than 4 to 1 on total volume of about 1.6 billion.  Nasdaq traded about 1.35 billion with about a 2 to 1 negative ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was mixed but mostly to the downside.  The alternative energy group today really got smacked, and profit-taking continued in that sector along with the drop in oil prices.  Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) dropped 2.78.  DayStar Technologies (DSTI) closed at 9.88, down 1.04. Distributed Energy Systems (DESC) was down 39 cents, along with Evergreen Solar (ESLR) down 25 cents.

Other stocks of note, Biovail (BVF) down 65 cents, Cavalier Homes (CAV) down 30 cents, Rediff.com India (REDF) down 27 cents, and Sierra Wireless (SWIR) 33 cents.

Other stocks to the plus side, Neoware (NWRE) was up 37 cents, Kendle International (KNDL) up 60 cents, and Dendreon (DNDN) up 22 cents, and a new one we traded today, Antigenics (AGEN), up 67 cents on positive drug news.

Stepping back and reviewing the overall patterns, the downtrend continued despite the fact we appeared to have hit a temporarily bottom on Thursday and consolidated on Friday.  Today's session did little to add to the bullish viewpoint. Although without the breakdown they still could be extending a basing pattern here.  But it's going to be very important that last week's lows hold.

We'll be watching 1540 NDX and about the 1182 area on the S&P to see if they indeed are able to hold those lows.

Good trading!

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.