The markets opened lower and despite a strong snapback rally in the morning rolled over in the afternoon and closed moderately lower today.

The day started out with a gap lower. They rallied back with a 3-wave rally, with the third leg of the wave being a very sharp one, but overhead resistance at the declining tops lines prevailed. They then moved steadily lower in an orderly fashion for the rest of the session, closing not far off the session lows on the S&P 500, but substantially above them on Nasdaq 100.

Net on the day the Dow was down 114.14 at 10,285.97, the S&P 500 11.31 at 1091.94, and the Nasdaq 100 down 10.92 at 1772.73.

The technicals were decidedly lower. Advance-declines were better than 2 to 1 negative on New York as well as on Nasdaq. Up/down volume, however, was the story today, 6 to 1 negative on New York on total volume of about 1.15 billion. Nasdaq traded 1.85 billion and had an 11 to 7 negative volume ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was mostly narrowly mixed with some point-plus losers and just one point-plus gainer. That was China Automotive (CAAS), which jumped 1.16 to 20.62.

Other Chinese stocks on our board were strong, with China Green Agriculture (CGA) up 67 cents to 18, and China Agritech (CAGC) up 35 cents to 29.65. But that sector was mixed today, as profit-taking set in.

Other gainers of note on our board, Nanometrics (NANO) advanced 77 cents to 13.27, and portfolio position NetList (NLST) jumped 75 cents to 5.29 on 6.6 million.

Ocean Power (OPTT) gained 40 cents to 9.31, and EuroTech Holdings (CLWT) 33 cents to 3.29.

Among ETFs, Direxion Large Cap Bear 3X Shares (BGZ) rose 57 cents to 18.52, the Direxion Financial Bear 3x Shares (FAZ) 49 cents 20.73, and the Direxion Small Cap 3x Bear (TZA) 26 cents to 11.30.

On the downside, Goldman Sachs (GS) gave back 2.01 to 161.84 in a weak financial sector. Wells Fargo (WFC) lost 32 cents to 26.03.

The Direxion Large Cap Bull 3X Shares (BGU) dropped 1.60 to 48.96 and the Direxion Financial Bull 3x Shares (FAS) 1.70 to 70.50.

Other losses of note, Genco (GNK) shed 97 cents to 22.69, Sourcfire (FIRE) 55 cents to 22.76, Canadian Solar (CSIQ) 42 cents to 26.47, Brigham Exploration (BEXP)lost 58 cents to 11.31, Nvidia (NVDA) 78 cents to 15.31, Revlon (REV) 52 cents to 18.45, RINO International (RINO) gave back 52 cents to 28.34, SIGA Technologies (SIGA) dropped 34 cents to 8.63, and Sonic Solutions (SNIC) lost 29 cents to 9.89.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, they gapped down sharply, reached near 1760 NDX and 1088 SPX, where support lies, and then they bounced sharply, but they failed to break out and then slipped back steadily during the afternoon in a 5-wave decline.

Overall the pattern of the last 2-3 weeks still appears to be a potential topping pattern, but until they break they could also be in a consolidation pattern. Until they make a decisive move one way or another above or below support or resistance, the indices continue to remain locked in a trading range.

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