The markets had a nasty follow-through to yesterday’s down session, and basically spent the entire day stair-stepping lower, closing very close to the lows for the day.

Net on the day the Dow was down 119.48 to 9762.69, the S&P 500 down 20.78 at 1042.63, and the Nasdaq 100 down 40.40 at 1682.06.

The technicals were decidedly negative, with one of the more negative readings we’ve seen in weeks. Advance-declines were lower by about 9 to 1 on New York and by a little less than 6 to 1 on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 10 to 1 negative on New York on total volume of about 1 2/3 billion. Nasdaq traded nearly 2.8 billion and had a little less than 11 to 1 negative volume ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was nearly totally negative except for a couple issues and several ETFs.

Ultrashort ETF’s lead the way to the upside, the Direxion Financial Bear 3x Shares (FAZ) up 1.84 to 22.93, the Direxion Small Cap 3x Bear (TZA) up 1.29 to 14.06, and the Direxion Large Cap Bear 3X Shares (BGZ) up 1.30 to 22.05. The UltraShort Real Estate ProShares (SRS) also gained 84 cents to 10.87.

NutriSystem (NTRI) jumped 2.30 to 21.23 on strong earnings, and American International Group (AIG) closed up 1.32 at 35.53 on 34.2 million.

The downside was the story today, with the Direxion Financial Bull 3x Shares (FAS) down 6.82 to 69.48 and Goldman Sachs (GS) 6.45 to 172.16. The Direxion Large Cap Bull 3X Shares (BGU) fell 3.12 to 48.40, and Direxion Daily Small Cap Bull 3X Shares (TNA) 4.12 to 37.26.

RINO International (RINO) lost another 1.50 to 19.19, and Rambus (RMBS) 1.08 to 16.10.

Westport Innovations (WPRT) fell 1.06 to 9.34 in a weak Chinese sector, which also included China Green Agriculture (CGA) down 1.23 to 10.40, and China TransInfo (CTFO) down 1.07 to 7.46.

In addition, Telestone Technologies (TSTC), another Chinese stock, lost 96 cents at 8.39, LJ International (JADE) 74 cents to 3.20, and AlphaProTech (APT) 1.40 to 5.69.

Biotechs were weak, with BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (BCRX) down 1.37 to 9.18, Human Genome Sciences (HGSI) 1.20 to 18.01, and Dendreon (DNDN) 1.06 to 25.10.

Among other financials, JP Morgan (JPM) fell 1.22 to 42.68, and Wells Fargo (WFC) 93 cents to 27.46, in addition to the big loss in Goldman Sachs.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices had a steadily lower session and ended up near the lows for the day going away. The indices are now steeply oversold with the NYSE McClellan Oscillator -350, the NDX oscillator at -135, and the SPX oscillator -121, and we do expect a snapback try as early as tomorrow morning.

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