The indices closed slightly higher today saved in the last hour by a late snapback rally, but for the most part the indices spent the mid-day part of the session in a very narrow range.  

The day started out, however, with a sharp rally that took them to new rally highs on the Nasdaq but failed to do so on the S&P, and when that failed to confirm the market came down rather sharply.  They actually took out the session lows on the S&P and slightly took out support but held it on the NDX.  Then a late morning bounce moved them back to near the neutral line, and they spent the next 3-4 hours in a vary narrow configuration.  On several occasions they tried to break up and down but couldn't, and with about an hour to go the attempt to break down failed once again and the indices started back up and closed in the positive column.

The Dow was up just 8 points, the S&P 500 up 0.19, barely ahead on the session, the NDX was up 8.36, and the SOX was up 2.30.

The technicals did not make it to the plus side on New York but did on Nasdaq.  Advance-declines were about 17 to 15 negative on New York but 15 to 14 positive on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was almost dead-even on the NYSE with about 1.5 billion traded, but Nasdaq was much better, with nearly 1.7 billion traded and about a 5 to 3 positive plurality.

TheTechTrader.com board was mostly higher, led today by some of the alternative solar energy stocks.  Evergreen Solar (ESLR) up 1.59 and DayStar Technologies (DSTI) up 1.80 led the way.  Convera (CNVR), up 1.07, was another point-plus gainer.

Other stocks of note, Dynamic Materials (BOOM) advanced 74 cents, Intevac (IVAC) was up 52 cents, Panacos Pharmaceuticals (PANC) up 50 cents, and Sento (SNTO) 76 cents.

On the downside, Global Industries (GLBL) was down 50 cents and Cutera (CUTR) 82 cents on profit-taking.  Those were the only losses to speak of -- everything else was off just fractionally today.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices despite being at a very high level and overbought failed to break down today and put on a good show in a consolidative nature today.

We'll see how it goes on Monday, but right now momentum is still strong to the upside.

Good trading!

Harry Boxer is a technical consultant to many Wall Street hedge funds and large institutional traders, and author of TheTechTrader.com, a real-time diary of his day, swing and intermediate-term trades. For more of Harry Boxer, sign up for a FREE 15-day trial to his Real-Time Technical Trading Diary, or sign up for a Free 30-Day Trial to his Top Charts of the Week service.