The stock market indices ended mixed today, but slightly higher on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, with the Dow off by just 5 points. It was a positive session in that advance-declines and up/down volume were to the plus side today.

The SPX actually had a better day than the NDX, as the NDX twice failed to confirm new intraday highs on the S&P 500, and just moved sideways marking time. So, a bit of concern that there may be some negative divergences setting up. We’ll have to see what results from that.

Net on the day, the Dow was down 5.07 at 12,268.19. The S&P 500 up 3.17 at 1332.32. The Nasdaq 100 up 6.45 at 2385.60.

Advance-declines were 16 to 13 positive on the New York Stock Exchange, and 7 to 6 positive on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 4 to 3 positive, advancing volume over declining volume on New York, volume a light 800 million traded today. Nasdaq traded 1.96 billion shares and had a 3 to 2 positive ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was higher, and there were quite a few gainers. Leading the way, IPG Photonics Corporation (IPGP) that once again had another spectacular gain of 7.25, closing at 53.80, up more than 15 1/2% today.

The junior oils had a big day today. These included Alon USA Energy, Inc. (ALJ) up 73 cents to 10.54, Double Eagle Petroleum Co. (DBLE) up 52 cents to 10.12, Frontier Oil Corp. (FTO) up 1.58 to 26.21, FX Energy Inc. (FXEN) 48 cents to 10.42, and Hercules Offshore, Inc. (HERO) 65 cents to 4.27, a gain of nearly 19%. Cheniere Energy, Inc. (LNG) advanced 57 cents to 8.80, Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NOG) 1.27 to 29.90, Oasis Petroleum Inc. (OAS) 1.07 to 32.49, and US Energy Corp. (USEG) 43 cents to 6.58, or 7%. Western Refining Inc. (WNR) gained 1.06 to 16.69.

It was a very solid day with the junior oils.

Other gainers of note, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG) continued its run, up 4.22 to 272.95. InterDigital, Inc. (IDCC) jumped 1.50 to 56.90, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) 1.17 to 190.42, and Apple Inc. (AAPL) 2.33 to 359.18. BSQUARE Corp. (BSQR), up 1.17 to 11.95, was a standout, Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (BWLD) rose 3.56 to 56.76.

Other gainers on note included Almaden Minerals Ltd. (AAU), up 63 cents to 4.43, or 16 Ã,½%. ARM Holdings (ARMH) gained 1.49 to 31.13, and Augusta Resource Corp. (AZC) 46 cents to 5.07. Citrix Systems, Inc. (CTXS) had a strong session, up nearly 3.00 today to 72.77. Entegris, Inc. (ENTG) rose 73 cents to 9.64, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR) 2.89 to 46.35, and Interphase Corp. (INPH) 54 cents to 4.64, a 13% gain. Mercer International Inc. (MERC) added 56 cents to 11.95.

O2Micro International Ltd. (OIIM) was up 65 cents to 8.45,and Procera Networks, Inc. (PKT) 1.14 to 8.69. Low-priced Tianyin Pharmaceutical Co., Inc. (TPI) was up 65 cents to 3.24, a 25% gain today, and Uranium Energy Corp. (UEC) gained 10%, was up 61 cents to 6.79.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices were up early on both exchanges, but when the pullback occurred the S&P 500 went to new lows and the NDX did not. However, the S&P 500 rallied sharply to new highs, while the NDX did not. The NDX spent the rest of the day in a coiling type fashion, while the SPX stair-stepped its way higher reaching near 1333 today, a new 2-year high.

It was a mixed picture today, but we’ll see what kind of follow-through they get, if at all, or whether a negative divergence is setting up or not.

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