The markets had a topsy-turvy volatile session today, particularly after the Fed made their announcement.  The day started out with a solid rally at the get-go that took the S&P to new 5 Ã,½-yaer highs.  At that point the NDX had not even taken out last Mondayââ,¬â"¢s high, creating a slight negative divergence that led to a morning pullback that was much sharper on the NDX, as that index dropped from 1730 to around 1717 around the lunch hour.

They firmed up through lunch and pulled back before the Fed announced.  After the Fed announced they were keeping rates unchanged the markets took off for about 10 minutes, made new highs on the S&P but failed to do so again on the NDX.  That resulted in a very sharp downside reaction.  However, that reaction held at the 5-day rising trendline on the NDX and held price support on the S&P 500, and in the last hour they came back sharply and with 15 minutes to go were at new highs again on the SPX.

A pullback into the last 15 minutes brought them off the highs. 

Net on the day the Dow was able to get into plus territory by just 6.8.  The S&P 500, however, was up 4.84.   Nasdaq was where the story was today, with the NDX up 12.88, led by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX), which soared 11.54.  Semiconductor stocks were very strong today.

Technicals were confirming, by 2 to 1 positive on New York on advance-declines and about 3 to 2 on Nasdaq.   Up/down volume was about 2 to 1 positive as well with 1.8 billion traded on New York.  Nasdaq traded more than 2.1 billion with a little less than 2 to 1 plurality.

TheTechTrader.com board was pretty evenly mixed between gainers and losers.  On the plus side, NVE Corp. (NVEC) led the way with a gain of 2.08 on 1 Ã,¼ million.  Broadcom (BRCM) in the semiconductor sector was up 1.46 on more than 17 million.

As a result the SMH advanced 69 cents today.  Other stocks of note, Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) was up 1.15, II-VI, Inc. (IIVI) snapped back 71 cents, China Medical (CMED) 82 cents, and Sigma Designs (SIGM) gained 82 as well.

On the downside, the loss leader by far was Travelzoo (TZOO) , which failed to follow-through on yesterdayââ,¬â"¢s big gains.  It gave back nearly 4 Ã,¾ today on more than 3 million shares.  Radio Shack (RSH) dropped 1.45 after releasing earnings.  DXP Enterprises (DXPE) fell 94 cents.  Lumera (LMRA), which had run quite a bit recently, gave back 71 cents on 5 Ã,½ million.  PW Eagle (PWEI) lost 49 cents and Chindex (CHDX) dropped 31 cents.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices swayed back and forth today testing both resistance and support, closing near the high end of the range today, with solid gains on Nasdaq and on the S&P, with the Dow barely eking out a gain.

Usually a day or two after the Fed announcement is when the trend asserts itself, so weââ,¬â"¢ll have see over the next day or two where the market wants to go.  But right now the trend is your friend, and the trend has not broken any key support whatsoever.

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.