The indices had a rather volatile session and ended on the downside, but net on the day the indices did not break any key support levels, although this could be the start of the pullback I was looking for.  We'll see if we get any downside follow-through.

The day started out with a move lower on the S&P 500, holding on the NDX, and then they got a morning slide, a rather sharp one on the S&P that saw it drop from 1236 to 1225.  That was all in the first hour or so.  After that they rebounded and accelerated during the lunch hour to the session highs and new rally highs on the NDX but did not get the confirmation from the S&P and Dow.

In the afternoon the blue chips slid back down towards the lows for the session.  The NDX held up better, and the indices did manage to bounce in the last hour before backing off into the close again.

Net on the day the Dow was down 61 and change, the S&P down more than 8, but the Nasdaq 100 was down less than a point, and that was despite the fact that the SOX was down 7.80, or about 1 3/4 percent.  That was probably because eBay, a component on the NDX, was up more than 7 points today, masking the internals on the NDX.

The technicals confirmed the down-day by 22 to 10 negative on the New York and about 19 to 11 on Nasdaq.  Up/down volume was solidly to the downside on New York but flat on Nasdaq.  There was a more than 3 to 1 negative on New York, on total volume of more than 1.6 billion. Nasdaq traded a hefty 2 billion shares, but was only 11 to 9 negative on up/down volume.

So, heavy volume on a down-day today, and another reason why we're being more skeptical about the current uptrend and believe we may see some more downside.

TheTechTrader.com board was mixed to mostly lower.  Among large-cap stocks, Broadcom (BRCM) was down 1.13, Juniper Networks (JNPR) down 1.10, and Intel (INTC) 46 cents.  The SMH as a result suffered by 0.60.  The Qs, however, were unchanged today.

In the small and mid-cap sector, the star of the day was Energy Conversion Devices (ENER), which reached near its 52-week high, backed off and closed up 1.02 on 1.4 million.  Dendreon (DNDN), one of our old favorites, exploded today on positive drug news, closing up 82 cents on more than 9 million shares.  Host America (CAFE) gained another 43 cents.  Escalon Medical (ESMC) gained 40 cents today, but most other stocks on the plus side were just fractionally changed.

On the downside, Forward Industries (FORD) got hit late in the day and lost 1.37, JAMDAT Mobile (JMDT) lost 1.44, and Dynamic Materials (BOOM) gave back 78 cents.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, despite today's down-session the indices are still intact in terms of their trends.  The NDX has not even broken its 21 and 40 day moving averages on the hourly charts, and the S&P is also holding right about at its moving averages.

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.