The indices had an outstanding session and soared late in the afternoon to close at the highs for the day going away.

The day started out with a gap up.  They backed and filled, and then rallied sharply in the morning to new rally highs on the NDX, but that was not confirmed by the S&P, and then they meandered for a few hours in a tight pattern, before breaking out in the afternoon and running to those new 2005 highs on the NDX and near so on the SPX.

Net on the day the Dow was up just 45, the S&P 11 /12, but the NDX was the star today, up nearly 25 points.  The SOX was up nearly 5.

The technicals were very positive today.  Advance-declines were positive by 3 to 1 on New York and about 2 1/2 to 1 on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was even better, 4 1/2 to 1 positive on New York on total volume of nearly 1.7 billion.  Nasdaq traded 1.8 billion, also with a 3 1/2 to 1 positive ratio.

So, a strong day confirmed by strong technicals and decent volume.

TheTechTrader.com board was mostly higher, with some outstanding issues.  New issue Sun Power (SPWR) opened higher by nearly 10 points, pulled back during the most of the rest of the session, traded more than 10 1/2 million and closed up 7.45 on the day.

China Techfaith (CNTF) continued yesterday's strong advance with another 1.61 gain on 3.4 million.  Cutera (CUTR) was up another 1.70 to a new all-time high.  Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) snapped back from recent losses, up 1.76 on more than 2 million share.  Kulicke & Soffa (KLIC) on a terrific earnings report advanced 1.20 on 6 1/2 million shares.

Alternative energy stocks were strong today in to addition to ENER.  DayStar Technologies (DSTI) was up 60 cents, and Evergreen Solar (ESLR) hit a new 4 1/2-year high at 12.44, before backing off and closing under 12, up 35 cents on 6.4 million.

Neoware (NWRE) advanced nearly a point, and Sierra Wireless (SWIR) was up 43 cents.  Convera (CNVR) was up 56 cents, and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (BCRX) advanced 70 cents.

On the downside, the leader by far was Biovail (BVF), which got slam-dunked for 2.61 on 5.8 million shares, and broke initial support.  Forward Industries (FORD) got hammered in the afternoon for a 1.52 loss.

Only a couple other stocks were even down on the session on my board.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the rally that's been in force for the last five weeks, particularly on the NDX, extended today, and is now up more than 10% since the October 13 Yom Kippur low.

Despite the fact the NDX has made a new 2005 high, the S&P is just a few points short, but we may get a test of that tomorrow.  But, no denying today's strength was a solid one as the rally continues.

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.