It was a mixed session with a positive bias.  The day started out with a strong gap up.  After a quick pullback they ran up to key short-term resistance, testing 1710 NDX and 1311 S&P 500.  They couldn't get through, sold off, and just before lunch bottomed for the morning, and then rallied back but on several occasions couldn't break through.  They made lower highs and then rolled over and took out the intraday support levels, testing the NDX pullback lows of yesterday near the 1695-96 zone and around 1303 on the S&P 500 before a late bounce brought them back up.

Net on the day, the Dow was up 71 and the S&P 500 3.37, but the Nasdaq 100 was up just 0.73.  The SOX Semiconductor Index was down 2 3/4 today, which put pressure on the NDX for most of the session.

The technicals reflected that and were just marginally higher on both exchanges.  Advance-declines were positive by 17 to 15 on New York and by just 55 issues on Nasdaq.   Up/down volume was about 4 to 3 positive on New York on total volume of 1 3/4 billion.  Nasdaq traded more than 2 billion, with about an 11 to 9 positive ratio on up over down volume.

TheTechTrader.com board was mostly narrowly mixed, but there were some outstanding stocks for sure today.  ACS Motion Control (ACSEF) was by far the outstanding stock today, gaining 5 points to 10.47, a 100% move on 1 3/4 million shares, which is nearly half the float.

Other stocks of note, Dynamic Materials Corp. (BOOM) advanced 1.71 in anticipation of earnings tomorrow morning, closing at 42.94 to a new all-time high, with an intraday high of 43.20.

Elsewhere, Vimicro International (VIMC) was up 1.60, although that was off more than 2 1/4 from its high on a late sell-off.  ElectroSensors (ELSC), another thin play today, gained 1.90 on 3.4 million shares, or about 30%.

Ionatron (IOTN) tagged a new multi-year high today at 14.12, closing at 14.10, up 51 cents.  OraLabs (OLAB) snapped back 57 cents from recent pullback lows.  Smith Micro (SMSI) to a new six-year high hit 13 1/2 before closing at 13.19, up 34 cents.  Eclipsys (ECLP) was up 35 cents and Chindex (CHDX) 26 cents.

There was plenty on the downside. Travelzoo (TZOO), which had been roaring lately, gave it back and how today, losing 7 3/4 on 4 million shares.  Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) dropped 1.48 and Evergreen Solar (ESLR) 1 in the alternative energy group, which was weak today. DXP Enterprises (DXPE) had a late hit and gave back 2.29, and Broadcom (BRCM) lost 1.80, which helped depress the semiconductor group today.

Other losses of note, Fuel Tech (FTEK) gave back 46 cents, and Endwave (ENWV) 33 cents, but that was 1.50 off the low. AVI Biopharma (AVII) lost 31 cents.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, after a couple days of sharp declines the NDX has managed to move sideways in a basing attempt over the last three days between 1695 and 1710 or so, and those levels held both advances and declines today.

On the S&P 500, very distinct resistance at 1311 has not been able to be broken.  On the other hand, support at 1299-1300 has also held. 

So we'll see which way they go.  Right now I would call the market in neutral territory.  Let's see if they can make a move to break out of this trading range we've been in for the last three sessions.

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.