It was another diverging-type session today, with the Nasdaq 100 and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) down on the session and the blue chip indices up again, as they fought for most of the session today. There was one sharp snapback rally on the NDX today early in the morning after it dipped sharply, but the rest of the day was spent with the S&P 500 making higher highs and the NDX struggling just to mark time.

The day started out with a fairly sharp move down , then they bounced back very sharply to retest the early highs. The SPX went into a sideways consolidation, while the NDX pulled back sharply again. However, the NDX did manage to make a higher low, and then firmed up in a choppy move higher over the last 3 hours . However, it still remained within the confines of its 3-day declining channel.

The S&P, however, not only broke out and made new highs, but made new 2009 highs today. The negative divergence from the NDX and tech stocks continued today and continues to leave me concerned about the possibility of a rollover occurring soon.

Net on the day the Dow was up 33.18 to 10606.86, the S&P 500 up 4.55 at 1141.69, and the Nasdaq 100 down 1.70 at 1876.72. However, that was 9 points off its low. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was down 4.04 at 362.30.

Advance-declines were better than 3 to 2 positive on New York and a little less than 3 to 2 positive on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was better than 2 to 1 positive on New York on total volume of just under 1.2 billion. Nasdaq traded about 2.2 billion and had about a 6 to 5 positive volume ratio.

So, there was much narrower movement & technicals on Nasdaq, but despite the downday in the SOXX and NDX, Nasdaq still managed to have more advancers than decliners by 450 issues.

Most stocks on TheTechTrader.com board were fractionally mixed, the majority of them lower. One point-plus gainer was the outstanding Direxion Financial Bull 3x Shares (FAS), up 4.60 to 86.06 on 24 million traded. The Direxion Large Cap Bull 3X Shares (BGU) advanced 66 cents.

Among the regular issues, Salix Pharmaceuticals (SLXP) jumped 34 cents to 28.05, OSI Systems (OSIS) 44 cents to 28.89, Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals (HITK) 60 cents to 29.09 and portfolio position Kandi (KNDI) 35 cents to 6.40 today, continuing its recent advance and tagging a new 2-year high today at 6.54.

On the downside, there was only one point-plus loser. STEC Inc. (STEC) gave back 1.01 to 17.92.

Among the large fractional losers, AsiaInfo (ASIA) lost 76 cents to 27.92, Brigham Exploration (BEXP) 81 cents to 14.68 on profit-taking, China Agritech (CAGC) 63 cents to 33.83, Canadian Solar (CSIQ) 96 cents to 31.39, SmartHeat (HEAT) 40 cents to 16.69, RINO International (RINO) 78 cents to 30.14, Rambus (RMBS) 40 cents to 23.15, and Origin Agritech (SEED) 46 cents to 12.05. Telestone Technologies (TSTC) also gave back 86 cents at 23.28.

For the most part, the majority of Chinese stocks we follow had a weaker session today.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, they were up on the blue chips, off on Nasdaq and the tech stocks, so a mixed diverging session today leaves the question in doubt about the direction of the trend. We’ll likely soon see if the blue ships can pull the tech stocks back up or whether tech stocks pressure the blue chips down. That could unfold over the next couple sessions.

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