The indices had mixed results today at the close, with the blue chips trailing the NDX today for a change. That was chiefly due to the early drop, as the indices opened lower on lower pre-market futures. But the NDX held much better than the S&P and Dow, and when they began to rally in the morning the NDX was able to get back into the plus column much quicker than the S&P 500, which failed to do so all day.

The morning rally lasted into mid-afternoon. They did pull back and retest shortly thereafter, but bounced again, with the NDX actually making higher highs and closing near the high for the day going away. The S&P vacillated back and forth in a narrow range and failed to follow through and confirm the S&P move.

Net on the day the Dow was down 48 and the S&P 500 down 2, but the Nasdaq 100 was up 5.42, despite the fact that the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was off 1.30.

Technicals were narrow and mixed, with about 270 issues lower on New York and only 27 issues higher on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 7 to 6 negative on New York on total volume of 1.4 billion. Nasdaq traded about 1.9 billion, with about a 10 to 9 positive ratio.

TheTechTrader.com board was mixed, mostly narrowly so, with a couple outstanding gainers. Cleveland Bio (CBLI) exploded for another 1.46 today, reaching a new all time high. It was the leading gainer on my board. The US Oil Trust (USO) oil ETF was up 1.10, as the price of oil for April closed over $60 for the first time in a while.

Among other stocks of note on the plus side were fractional gainers, with Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) up 56 cents, Home Inns & Hotels (HMIN) 40 cents, Hoku Scientific (HOKU) up 33 cents, and Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH), one of our portfolio positions, up 38 cents. The Qs (QQQQ) advanced 51 cents.

On the downside, the only point-plus loser was Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR), which dropped 2.21 today. Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX) was down 94 cents, and Chindex (CHDX) dropped 66 cents.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices were hit hard early but held the rising moving averages on the hourly charts. They moved back up and rallied for the rest of the session on Nasdaq and until mid-session on the S&P, after which the index went into a sideways movement.

But the overall pattern still remains strong, bullish and potentially higher until we get a definitive break.

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.