We had some volatility today, but net on the day the indices ended mixed.

The day started out with a move down at the opening that held yesterdayââ,¬â"¢s lows and triggered a very strong snapback rally, also fed by some economic news.  The indices rallied sharply to test the declining tops lines on the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500, and halted right there.  They pulled back rather sharply, tested the lows by mid-day & held, then a 5-wave afternoon rally took the indices back up into the plus column.

Net on the day, most of the major indices managed to gain small amounts.  The Dow was up just 19, but closed over 12,000 for the first time in history, at 12,011.73.  The S&P 500 was up 1 point near 1367, and the Nasdaq 100 up 5.62 at 1706.  However, the OEX lost a few cents and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was down 1.70.

The technicals managed to stay positive, with advance-declines 3 to 2 positive on New York and a little less than that on Nasdaq.  Up/down volume was positive by 8 to 7 positive on New York and 10 to 9 on Nasdaq.  So it was a marginally positive day.  Total volume on New York was over 1.65 billion, and on Nasdaq was 1.95 billion.

There were a few outstanding stocks on our board today.  NVE Corp. (NVEC), on excellent earnings and upgrades,  soared 6 Ã,½ points today on 4 Ã,½ million shares.  Low-priced Lumera (LMRA) snapped back nearly 1.50 today on nearly 6 Ã,¼ million shares, closing at the highs for the day going away.  Apple Computer (AAPL) was up 4.46 on 54 million shares, closing near 79 on excellent earnings as well.

Other stocks of note, low-priced Accentia Biopharm (APBI) on positive drug news closed up 1.20 on 5 million shares, but that was about 1.50 off the earlier highs, so it gave back a large portion of its early gains.  Fuel Tech (FTEK) had an excellent day today to 5-month highs and nearing its all-time high set back in May.  It may get a test of it tomorrow, but it closed at 18.44, up 1.21 on nearly Ã,¾ million shares, which is a lot of volume for that stock. 

Other gainers of note, PW Eagle (PWEI) was up 77 cents, DXP Enterprises (DXPE) 47 cents, and Broadcom (BRCM) 48 cents.

On the downside, II-VI, Inc. (IIVI) had another tough day, losing 1.96, and Interphase (INPH) had a large percentage loss, down 1.48 today.

In the alternative energy sector, Evergreen Solar (ESLR) gave back 40 cents and Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) 30 cents.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the NDX remains beneath its 4-day declining tops line and in a distinct down-channel, but it closed near the top of that range, and weââ,¬â"¢ll see if we can get a breakout tomorrow and whether support at 1693-94 can hold.  That was the double-bottom today.

The S&P managed to hold its 6-day rising bottoms trendline and the bottom of its recent up-channel, closing near the high end of the range for the day and near initial resistance in the 1368 zone. 

Tomorrow is options expiration day, and itââ,¬â"¢ll be interesting to see if the indices can continue to hang tough.

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.