The indices had another strong start to the week with another strong gap up at the opening on very positive futures. They then backed and filled, retested early lows and then rallied steadily to mid-afternoon when they reached their peaks for the day. They pulled back into the last hour, but in the last 15-mintues snapped back sharply to close near the highs for the day on the Nasdaq 100 and not far from them on the S&P 500.

Net on the day the Dow gained 114.95 to 9286.56, just 12 points off its high. The S&P 500 was up 15.15 to 1002.63, closing over 1000 for the first time since November. That was less than a point from its highs. The Nasdaq 100 advanced 24.76 to 1628.12, just pennies from its high.

Advance-declines were 5 to 1 positive on New York and 2/1/2 to 1 positive on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was about 7 1/2 to 1 positive on New York on total volume of just under 1.2 billion. Nasdaq traded 2.1 billion and had a 4 1/2 to 1 positive volume ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was mostly higher. Leading the way was the Direxion Financial Bull 3x Shares (FAS), up 4.55 to 62.12. The iShares MSCI Brazil Index ETF (EWZ) gained 2.79 to 60.39, and the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (FXI) 1.70 to 43.56. the U.S. Oil Fund ETF (USO) gained 1.11 to 37.92, as oil jumped a couple dollars today.

Recent portfolio position China Green Agriculture (CGA) jumped 1.55 to 13.19, a new 52-week high. OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals (OGXI) was up 1.50 to 30.68..

Financials were firm, with Wells Fargo (WFC) up 1.34 to 25.80, Goldman Sachs (GS) up only 80 cents to 164.10, Morgan Stanley (MS) 81 cents to 29.31, JP Morgan (JPM) 95 cents to 39.60 and Bank of America (BAC) 15.32 up 53c

Junior biotechs also had a strong session today, with Oncothyreon (ONTY) up 1.93 to 6.56, Affymetrix (AFFX) up 66 cents to 9.50, Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) up 60 cents to 4.67, Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ) up 33 cents to 6.21, and portfolio position Orthovita (VITA) up 20 cents to 6.73.

On the losing side, Direxion Financial Bear 3x Shares (FAZ) dropped 2.57, Direxion Large Cap Bear 3X Shares (BGZ) 1.36, the Direxion Small Cap 3x Bear (TZA) 83 cents, and the UltraShort Real Estate ProShares (SRS) down 62 cents.

The only big loser among the regular stocks we follow was Savient Pharmaceuticals (SVNT), which dropped 2.79 to 12.80 on negative drug news, although that was 2.80 off its earlier low.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices continued the rally, reaching new 2009 highs on the SPX. The NDX is still a few points short of that, but we’ll see if we get a confirmation tomorrow. In any case, the rally rolled on today.

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