The indices ended on the downside today but narrowly on Nasdaq.

The day started with a minor dip at the opening and then a rally attempt early on which turned into a sideways consolidation.  Another rally attempt just before the lunch hour took the NDX to a nominal new high, but the S&P did not follow.  Then they sold off rather sharply, took out minor support and held secondary support, retested in the afternoon and then bounced in the last hour before pulling back near the close.

Net the day the Dow was down 44 1/4, the S&P 3 1/2, NDX 2, the Nasdaq Composite less than 1/2 a point, and the SOX 0.06.

The technicals were slightly positive on Nasdaq and mixed on the NYSE.  Advance-declines were 17 to 15 positive on New York and positive by just 28 issues on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 9 to 8 positive on Nasdaq and about 8 to 7 negative on New York.

So, it was a mixed session, a consolidation of the run-up of the last few days.  The indices tested and backed right off their intermediate declining tops lines and top of the declining channels, which is key resistance, but they did make some progress today.  The S&P broke out above the 1168-70 zone, and the NDX broke out above the 1148-50 zone, and when they backed off they held at those levels.  So I think that's key, and we'll see if they can continue higher or do eventually break the support zone.

TheTechTrader.com board had a very interesting day.  The majority of the stocks were fairly narrow, but several of them stood out.  The star of the day by far was Dynamic Materials (BOOM) on a terrific earnings report, up 7 points on 6.8 million shares.   Parlux Fragrances (PARL) was up a couple points on heavy volume following up on yesterday's upside guidance.

Other stocks of note, Medicore (MDKI) followed up on yesterday's action, up another 79 cents.  JAMDAT Mobile (JMDT) was up 76 cents and was up an additional 2 points in the after market, Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) up 46 cents, and Taser (TASR) up 39 cents.

On the downside QLogic (QLGC) on an earnings disappointment and downgrades was down 4 today.  Juniper Networks (JNPR) was off 48 cents, Digital Insight (DGIN) 54 cents, and Forward Industries (FORD) 37 cents.

Stepping back and reviewing the overall patterns, as indicated earlier we broke out through important resistance levels but failed at the declining tops lines and backed off and retested successfully so far.  We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

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.