The stock market indices had a mixed day today and were kind of diverging at the close with the NDX moving up into the high end of the range and the S&P 500 moving down toward the low end of the range.

The day started with a move up to test resistance at 2340 NDX and near the 1330 area on the SPX. They backed off, bounced back and retested, went lower again and retested the lows, both times holding highs and lows, and then in the afternoon had started a slow, steady climb back up toward the highs. Toward the last hour the S&P 500 rolled over and closed not far from the lows as the NDX kept pressing higher and ended up with a gain for the day.

Net on the day, the Dow was down just 30.88 at 12,319.73. The S&P 500 was down 2.43 at 1325.83. The Nasdaq 100 was up 2.47 at 2338.99.

Advance-declines were almost 3 to 2 positive on the New York Stock Exchange and a little less than that on Nasdaq. However, declining volume edged out advancing volume on both exchanges.

Up/down volume was about 3 to 2 negative on New York, with total volume of about 1.05 billion shares traded. Nasdaq traded just about 1.9 billion shares and had about a 10 to 9 negative ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board, as a result, was mixed, but there were some outstanding gainers today. One of the leading gainers today was Ultratech, Inc. (UTEK) up 4.05 to 29.40. Clean Diesel Technologies Inc. (CDTI) closed up 2.25 to 8.60, Tesla Motors, Inc. (TSLA) 4.04 to 27.75, China Yuchai International Limited (CYD) 1.92 to 29.33, Dendreon Corp. (DNDN) 1.89 to 37.43, and low-priced junior oil Blue Dolphin Energy Company (BDCO) 1.03 to 7.40.

In the low-priced sector, Star Scientific, Inc. (CIGX) jumped 36 cents to 4.54, Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc. (SYMX) 78 cents to 2.83, Luna Innovations Incorporated (LUNA) 66 cents to 2.47, and Avalon Rare Metals, Inc. Ordina (AVL) 26 cents to 8.09.

On the downside, the only point-plus losers were Travelzoo Inc. (TZOO), down 1.89 to 66.59, and Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (JAZZ), off 1.26 to 31.85.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices moved up early on, but failed at resistance, backed off, moved back up again, and back down again. So, twice testing the highs and twice testing the lows, both successful, but unable to move in either direction, as the NDX traded in a 10-point range and the SPX traded in about a 4 or 5-point range. In the afternoon they moved back up to the highs, but rolled over on the S&P 500 and held tight on the NDX, and as a result we had a mixed close today.

However, the indices appear to be getting tired and losing some momentum in this area. Perhaps they need to pull back and do some retesting and consolidating before they can move any higher.

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