The indices continued their slide into a third day off the rally high.  Net on the day they were down, but they had two intraday rallies during the session, including a late one that brought the indices back off the lows and successfully retested the May 24th lows on the NDX and made higher lows on the S&P.  So conceivably that was a successful retest and the indices could be putting in an important low, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Net on the day, the Dow was down 46 1/2, the S&P 500 1 1/2, and the Nasdaq 100 a little more than 2.  The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) down 2 points.  All of those were well off the lows.

The technicals improved somewhat but were still decidedly negative.  Advance-declines were negative by 2 to 1 on New York and 3 to 2 on Nasdaq.  Up/down volume was 2 to 1 negative on New York on a total of 1.85 billion today.  Nasdaq traded over 2 billion with just about a 2 to 1 negative plurality.

TheTechTrader.com board was very active with some outstanding issues both ways.  Baidu.com (BIDU), which had a strong afternoon rally, exploded for 6.50 on 5 1/2 million shares.  The BIDU June 85 call options (BDQFQ) closed at 7, up 3.80, more than doubling today.

Other stocks of note, Evergreen Solar (ESLR) on some upgrades,recommendations and a supply agreement, exploded for 1.78 on more than 7 1/2 million shares today, closing at 13.07, a large percentage gain there. 

On the downside, DXP Enterprises (DXPE) gave back 2.58 but was more than 2 points off the low, coming back in the afternoon. Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) dropped 1.59, 51job, Inc. (JOBS) 1.90, Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) 1.15 and PW Eagle (PWEI) 1.22.

Boxer Short Allegheny Technologies (ATI) got slammed for another 3 points earlier in the day and got right down to our trading target near 59, before rallying sharply the rest of the session and closing up on the day, at 62.72, up 53 cents.

Our other short Chart of the Week, FreightCar America (RAIL), got down under 50 1/2 but closed over 53 today, up 1.48.

Broadcom (BRCM) in the large-cap sector was down 1.95 and under pressure most of the session.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the NDX successfully tested the lows of May 24, getting down to 1560, a couple points above that previous 1558 low, before the late rally.  The S&P 500 was more than 10 points above that low before bouncing in the morning, retesting in the afternoon and then closing strong.

Resistance at the 1266-67 zone will be watched early tomorrow and beyond that 1270 and 1275.  NDX resistance is at 1580 and 1589-90, with today's lows as important short-term support.

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.