The markets seesawed back and forth today, but ended mixed on the day. The day started out with a move down and then sharp spike-up on economic news, and then they sold off shortly after and tested the lows of the last 4 sessions on the NDX and SPX. So key support was tested. They did manage to bounce mid-session and backed and filled towards the end of the day, but made no real progress.

Net on the day the Dow was up just 4.23 at 9543.52, the S&P 500 up just 0.12 at 1028.12, and the Nasdaq 100 down 2.90 at 1637.00.

Advance-declines were negative by about 125 issues on New York, but positive by about 130 issues on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 5 to 4 negative on New York on total volume of just over 1 billion. Nasdaq traded just under 2 billion and had a 10 to 9 positive volume ratio.

So a very mixed picture today, but a lot of low-priced stocks were moving, and there was some real speculative activity today. That always concerns me as you often see that at the end of an intermediate move, so be careful here.

TheTechTrader.com board was mostly narrowly mixed, but there several major point-plus gainers. American International Group (AIG) exploded for nearly $5 late in the session, and closed up 3.72 on 22.6 million, a major reversal on what appeared to be short covering.

Biotechs were generally active, with Human Genome Sciences (HGSI) up nearly 4 at one point, closing at 20 Ã,½, up 1.29 on nearly 40 million shares, as Glaxo denied potential takeover rumors. OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals (OGXI), one of our recent favorites, gained 1.22 to 33.08, to near its high for the year. Vanda Pharmaceuticals (VNDA) jumped 1.05 to 15.25, Dendreon (DNDN) 50 cents to 24.62, and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (BCRX) 36 cents to 12.80. Cerus (CERS) advanced 13 cents to 2.18, and INO 14 cents 2.17.

The star of the day today was Nextwave Wireless (WAVE), which soared 1.02 to 1.44, a gain of 245% on more than 25 Ã,½ million shares. That was the heaviest day on record for the stock.

On the downside, no stocks on our board were down more than a point, only fractional changes on our board.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices extended the consolidation ranges or potential topping patterns that we’ve seen over the last 3-4 sessions, but support is still holding at NDX 1628 and SPX 1022. Those are the key levels to watch, and if they continue to hold we just may get additional short covering and further rallying, but right now the indices are non-directional short-term.

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