The indices had a volatile session in that they were up in the morning, down mid-day, rallied back to new highs, and then rolled over in the last couple hours and gave back a chunk of the gains, but still ended up ahead on the day.

The S&P 500 managed to make nominal new 2009 highs, with the NDX doing so as well, but it still remained somewhat of an unconvincing day.

Net on the day the Dow closed at 8770.92, up 31.90, but traded more than 100 points higher during the day. The S&P 500 closed at 944.89, up 5.74, which was 12 points off its high, and the Nasdaq 100 ended at 1497.01, up 1.47, 14 points off its high. So the NDX gave back a chunk of its gains, and that was mostly due to the fact that the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was down 3.46, the only index on our board that was down today.

The technicals, however, managed to remain more than 3 to 2 positive on advance-declines on New York and nearly 2 to 1 positive on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was just under 2 to 1 positive on New York, but total volume was light, under 1.2 billion. Nasdaq traded about 2.3 billion and had a 7 to 4 positive volume ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was evenly mixed. Palm Inc. (PALM) had a big day today, up 1.44 at 13.43. Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH) was up 1.10 to 28.08, an 11-month high. iShares MSCI Brazil Index ETF (EWZ) gained 2.03 to 57.95, and the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (FXI) added 95 cents at 40.12.

The U.S. Oil Fund ETF (USO), with oil over $73, reached 40 at its high, closing at 39.68, up 71 cents.

The UltraShort Real Estate ProShares (SRS) at 19.25 was up 73 cents.

Mosaic (MOS) was the only other stock on our board up more than a point. Bank of America (BAC) gained 99 cents to 12.97 in a generally mixed financial sector.

Reviewing some of our portfolio positions, China Green Agriculture (CGA) bounced back 68 cents to 8.10. Brigham Exploration (BEXP) jumped 40 cents to a new multi-month at 4.26. Oculus Innovative Sciences (OCLS) gained 17 cents to 4.79, and Patriot Coal (PCX) added 55 cents to 9.67. A new one we added today, 3Par (PAR), was up 47 cents to 11.46.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices were up in the morning, down mid-day, back up in early afternoon, and then rolled over to close near the lows for the day on the Nasdaq 100 and not far from it on the SPX. So it was a disappointing finish, as the early afternoon breakout to new 2009 highs failed to get a positive follow-through and they rolled over, particularly in the last 45 minutes or so.

We’ll see how it goes tomorrow, but the indices, even though they had minor breakout, technically still remain in a 3-week consolidation pattern.

Harry Boxer is a technical consultant to many Wall Street hedge funds and large institutional traders, and author of TheTechTrader.com.