The indices were mixed for most of the session, but came on in the last half hour, in particular, to close solidly in the plus column on options expiration day. Volume was quite heavy because of that.

The day started out with a big gap up. They then rallied sharply, particular on the Nasdaq 100, had a very sharp pullback that took the S&P 500 to new pullback lows. At that point the NDX did not confirm that low, and they rallied and snapped back sharply. The NDX took out the highs finally, but the SPX failed to do, and then they consolidated for about 1-1 1/2 hours, dipped with about a half hour to go but immediately reversed sharply higher in what looked like late afternoon short-covering.

Net on the day the Dow was up 20.63 at 10328.89, the S&P 500 up 6.49 at 1102.57, and the Nasdaq 100 up 29.09 at 1807.36.

Advance-declines were a little less than 3 to 2 positive on New York and a little more than 3 to 2 positive on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was a little less than 2 1/2 to 1 positive on New York on total volume of almost 2.6 billion. Nasdaq traded almost 2.8 billion and had a better than 3 to 1 positive volume ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was mixed with a slight edge to the decliners. The Direxion Financial Bull 3x Shares (FAS) led the way, up 2.67 to 51.73 on just under 21 million shares. Goldman Sachs (GS) advanced 2.26 to 163.19, Apple (AAPL) 3.57 to 195.43, and Canadian Solar (CSIQ) 1.09 to 26.78, a new 52-week high.

Those were the only point-plus gainers on our board.

Large fractional gainers of note were portfolio position Vision Sciences (VISN) up 97 cents to 12.05 on a sharp late run, Hi-Tech (HITK) 84 cents to 27.36, Incyte (INCY) 39 cents to 8.49, and Brigham Exploration (BEXP) 51 cents to 13.35. The Direxion Large Cap Bull 3X Shares (BGU) was up 77 cents to 50.84.

Among our other portfolio positions, Energy Recovery (ERII) added 13 cents, Kandi (KNDI) 7 cents, NetList (NLST) 14 cents, and Rambus (RMBS) 21 cents.

On the downside, China Agritech (CAGC) lost 1.29 to 27.07, and Revlon (REV) 1.04 to 17.83. Those were the only point-plus losers on our board.

The Direxion Financial Bear 3x Shares (FAZ) dropped 86 cents to 20.25, the Direxion Small Cap 3x Bear (TZA) 28 cents to 10.63, Direxion Large Cap Bear 3X Shares (BGZ) 31 cents to 17.76.

Sourcefire (FIRE) gave back 63 cents to 25.23, SmartHeat (HEAT) 31 cents to 15.58, RINO International (RINO) 43 cents to 27.54, China Automotive (CAAS) 71 cents to 19.01, and AsiaInfo (ASIA) 32 cents to 30.06, along with A-Power Energy (APWR) 40 cents to 18.75, in a generally weak Chinese sector today.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns the indices were up early, came down hard, retested, made lower lows on the SPX but not on the NDX, then rallied back for the rest of the afternoon with a mid-afternoon consolidation which was followed by a late sharp snapback to the upside.

Both indices closed at the afternoon highs going away, with the NDX closing at the session highs.

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