The indices had another strong up-session, interrupted by a sharp mid-afternoon sell-off, but held secondary support and came on again in the last hour to close solidly in the plus column.

The day started out with a slight move lower and then a strong immediate rally that took the NDX from 1648 to 1676 and the SPX from 1024 to 1036. They consolidated for about an hour to an hour and a half, and then rolled over hard in the afternoon, but held support near 1660 NDX and 1028 SPX, and then snapped back sharply in the last hour.

Net on the day the Dow was up 49.88 at 9547.22, the S&P 500 up nearly 8 at 1033.37, and the Nasdaq 100 up 14.42 at 1669.23.

Advance-declines were nearly 3 to 1 positive on New York and about 2 1/2 to 1 positive on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was better than 2 to 1 positive on New York on total volume of a light 1.2 billion. Nasdaq traded a strong 2.4 billion and had a 4 to 1 positive volume ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was generally positive. Point + gainers included American International Group (AIG) up 3.04 to 38.89, Goldman Sachs (GS) up 3.05 at 170.27, and the Direxion Financial Bull 3x Shares (FAS) up 2.78 to 75.98.

However, Vivus (VVUS) was by far the outstanding stock today, jumping on positive weight loss drug news, up 4.89 to 11.80, trading 74 million shares, more than its entire float.

Other than that, most stocks were up must small fractions.

Junior biotechs and medical stocks were firm, with BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (BCRX) up 43 cents to 10.88, Human Genome Sciences (HGSI) up 37 cents at 19.61, portfolio position Electro-Optical Sciences (MELA) 24 cents to 10.49, and Orexigen Therapeutics (OREX) up 62 cents to 8.82. Vanda Pharmaceuticals (VNDA) gained 71 cents to 13.23.

On the downside, the Direxion Small Cap 3x Bear (TZA) was off 74 cents, UltraShort Real Estate ProShares (SRS) 46 cents, and Direxion Financial Bear 3x Shares (FAZ) 97 cents, along with Direxion Large Cap Bear 3X Shares (BGZ) down 64 cents.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the rally moved forward today as the indices had a strong morning. A sharp setback in the afternoon held secondary support, and then they came on to close with another positive gain on the session and new 2009 highs on the Nasdaq 100.

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