The market bent but didn't break today, in what appeared to be a consolidation of the big run-up we had yesterday.  Although late in the afternoon the S&P 500 did get up near the highs for the session, the Nasdaq failed to break out and confirm.  But net on the day the indices were in the plus column, with the SOX Index, in particular, moving a lot of the tech stocks.

The day started out with a gap up.  They ran sharply higher to new rally highs and new 2005 highs on both indices, with the S&P confirming yesterday's breakout on the NDX.

Then they pulled down, and on three or four occasions tested initial support after filling the opening gap at around 1675 NDX that failed to break during the entire session.  Despite the fact the S&P did make lower intraday lows, that was not confirmed by the NDX.  That resulted in an afternoon snapback rally that brought the indices back into the plus column and solidly so.

The Dow closed up 46, the S&P 500 5 1/2, and the NDX just 3 1/2, but the SOX Index was up a whopping 11.67, and that really pushed the tech stocks higher today.

Advance-declines were positive by 3 to 2 on New York and a like amount on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was about 2 to 1 positive on New York with a total of just short of 1 3/4 billion traded.  Nasdaq, however, traded about 2 billion shares, with about a 12 to 7 positive plurality.

TheTechTrader.com board was mostly positive.  The outstanding winners today were Internet Initiative Japan (IIJI), up 1.21.  Solar Power (SPWR), a new issue, was up 1.65, snapping back after yesterday's IPO.  Broadcom (BRCM) was up 1.07 today.

Internet portals were generally positive, as evidenced by IIJI.  Rediff.com India (REDF) was up a fraction, and Sify Inc. (SIFY) up 42 cents in the Internet sector.

On the downside, Cutera (CUTR) lost 1.71, but the loss leader by far was Forward Industries (FORD), which dropped 5.50 today on 4.4 million.  After an excellent earnings report, sellers threw in the towel and took profits. 

Among other smaller losses, Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) dropped 39 cents, and DayStar Technologies (DSTI) fell 33 cents in the alternative energy sector.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, as indicated, the indices took some profits in the morning but stabilized and then rallied in the afternoon to close on the plus side.

It was an excellent close, near the highs for the week for both indices.  So the rally remains intact, and on options expiration day they refused to crack. 

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.