The stock market indices snapped right back today. Even though they opened the day lower and tested key support down around 2235 NDX and 1284 S&P 500, they then rallied sharply off those levels for the rest of the day. Only a late pullback prevented them from closing at the session highs.

Net on the day, the Dow was up 67.39 at 12,086.02. The S&P 500 closed up 3.77 at 1297.54, trading as high as 1300.51, and the Nasdaq 100 was up 12.54 to 2270.50, 6 points off its high.

Advance-declines were only 16 to 13 positive on both the New York Stock Exchange because the indices came back and advance-declines didn’t catch up, and Nasdaq was positive by only 175 issues. Up/down volume was just a little bit above flat on New York, with total volume of just 850 million shares. Nasdaq traded about 1.75 billion shares with nearly a 2 to 1 positive volume ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was mixed. On the upside today, gold and silver stocks were strong. Golden Minerals Company (AUMN) was up 4.59 to 23.14, a 24.7% gain. Endeavour Silver Corp. (EXK) advanced 37 cents to 9.86, and First Majestic Silver Corp. (AG) 1.09 to 19.32.

In the high-tech sector it was a mixed picture. Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) was up 2.72 to 165.32, but Apple Inc. (AAPL) was down to 339.19. International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) jumped 1.53 to 159.53, and Travelzoo Inc. (TZOO) 3.29 to 57.26.

In addition, KV Pharmaceutical Co. (KVA) rose 1.27 to 9.95, a 14.6% gainer there, and Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG) was up 3.09 to 346.98.

Other stocks of note included Sky-mobi Limited (MOBI) up 2.04 to 11.52, FormFactor Inc. (FORM) 62 cents to 10.49, and Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc. (SYMX) 40 cents to 2.15.

On the downside, Goldman Sachs (GS) dropped 1.26 to 159.53. The ultra-short ETFs were down for the most part, with the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX) dropping 1.24 to 31.26, and the Direxion Daily Emrg Mkts Bear 3X Shares (EDZ) 82 cents to 20.14, but the Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was up actually up 38 cents to 42.06.

So, it was an interesting, mixed day today.

In addition, Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NOG) lost 2.62 to 25.96, and Brigham Exploration Co. (BEXP) gave back 1.57 to 34.01.

Oils also were mixed, as larger-cap oils were hit harder. Low-priced Royale Energy Inc. (ROYL), for example, dropped just down 9 cents today to 5.93, while Blue Dolphin Energy Company (BDCO) was up 42 cents to 7.37.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices gapped down at the opening, hit their session lows in the first 30-40 minutes, and then were up for the rest of the session. They rallied back strongly to test key overhead resistance near 1300 S&P 500 and near the 2275-80 zone on the NDX.

We’ll see what that means tomorrow and whether they can break through and reverse this. But it sure looks like bottoming patterns on the indices.

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