We got more of the same this morning as the market opened lower and consolidated mid-day.  In the afternoon when the Nasdaq 100 reached down towards the 1460 area, which was the approximate lows of the last 3-4 declines we've seen and the 2005 lows, the market began a snapback move.  During the rebound the Fed gave some potentially bullish statements that clearly triggered a tremendous run.  The NDX exploded from 1460 to 1490 inside of an hour and a half, and the S&P went from near support at around 1170 to 1190.  A slight back-off at the close brought them off the highs but not by much.

Net on the day the Dow was up 59 1/2, the S&P 6 1/2, the NDX more than 10 1/2 and the Composite around 13 1/4.  The SOX Index still was down on the day but came back 10 points off that lows, and that really helped Nasdaq.

Technicals turned around dramatically, with advance-declines 20 to 12 positive on New York and about 16 to 13 positive on Nasdaq.  Up/down volume was just under 2 to 1 positive on New York.  Total there was a little more than 1.5 billion.  Nasdaq was closed to 1.9 billion, with more than a 2 to 1 positive ratio on up/down volume.
 
TheTechTrader.com board was very narrowly mixed.  Dynamic Materials (BOOM), which was down sharply this morning by more than 3 points, came back with a roar, but still ended down 1.35.  Forward Industries (FORD) continued its profit-taking of the last couple days, down another 1.06 today.

On the plus side, PacificNet (PACT) was up 91 cents and broke out.  NovAtel (NGPS) was up 82 cents, and DayStar Technologies (DSTI) in the alternative energy sector was up 35 cents.

Most stocks, however, came from solid losses to just fractional changes at the end of the day, and we'll see if we can get an extension of this tomorrow.

Stepping back and reviewing the overall patterns, the significance of today's action was that key support held on the Nasdaq 100 around 1460 and on the S&P at around the 1170 area.  The dramatic rally took out the moving averages on the hourly charts, and the S&P nearly traversed its entire trading range of the last two weeks by getting back up to 1190 from 1170 in just an hour and a half.

It'll be interesting to see if they back off tomorrow whether support holds and whether they can come on again and take out the recent trading range, complete the reversal and put in an important low here.

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.