The stock market indices opened lower today and spent much of the day in negative to neutral territory, meandering back and forth in consolidation ranges. When it was apparent that support was holding, after being tested three times, they then turned back north, and in early afternoon started a rally that lasted until near the close, a very strong move that took the Nasdaq 100 up near 1950.

Net of the day, the Dow managed to eke out a 22.10 gain and closed at 10,594.83 with a high of just over 10,603. The S&P 500 snapped back from 1119 to 1125, closing just underneath that at 1124.66, but was still fractionally lower on the day, down 41 cents, unable to regain all of its losses. The Nasdaq 100 closed at 1948.11, up 8.51.

Advance-declines were a little less than 3 to 2 negative on the New York Stock Exchange and a similar amount on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was slightly negative on New York, with total volume of only 890 million shares traded today. Nasdaq had a 9 to 8 positive ratio and traded about 1 3/4 billion today.

Despite the indices eking out some gains, the technicals weren’t able to catch up, and it was a slightly lower session for most stocks. TheTechTrader.com board, however, was higher today for the most part, with quite a few big gainers today.

Leading the way today was Apple Inc. (AAPL), up 6.35 at 276.57, approaching its all-time high. 51job Inc. (JOBS) advanced 2.41 to 31.89, OSI Systems, Inc. (OSIS) 1.37 to 34.33, and Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (OREX) 1.87 at 6.77, a big percentage gain there.

In addition, Delcath Systems Inc. (DCTH) rose 64 cents to 7.42, Smart Technologies Inc. (SMT) 1.06 to 13.65, Fuqi International, Inc. (FUQI) 93 cents to 7.07, and JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (JKS) 1.29 to 28.91. Finisar (FNSR) gained 1.09 to 17.70, along with Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) u p2.68 to 148.13.

Among other gainers of note, current swing trade position Blue Coat Systems Inc. (BCSI) was up 84 cents to 23.65. Echelon Corporation (ELON), a Top 25 list member, jumped 68 cents to 24.60. McMoRan Exploration Co. (MMR), a swing trade pick today, added 40 cents to 14.14, and L & L Energy, Inc. (LLEN) 51 cents to 7.80 on positive news. Xerox Corp. (XRX) gained 30 cents to close at 10.05 today.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices spent the morning meandering back and forth and consolidating, but when support held, they broke to the upside and closed at new 2010 highs on the NDX, but continued to fall short on the SPX.

That is a major concern, as they are non-confirming here and could be setting up negative divergences. Tomorrow is options expirations. We’ll see what kind of volatility that brings, if any, and whether on not they can extend these gains.

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