We had a very interesting session. The markets basically gapped up big and then consolidated for most of the rest of the session, came on again in the last hour and closed near the highs for the day. A strong day for the indices and definitely a strong follow-up day for the four-day uptrend off the spike lows.

The Dow ended up 145 higher, the S&P 500 up nearly 17, the Nasdaq 100 25 Ã,¾, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) about 4 Ã,½.

The technicals were very strong today. Advance-declines were around 27 to 7 on New York and 21 to 9 on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 6 to 1 positive on New York on total volume of under 1.45 billion, and 4 Ã,½ to 1 positive on Nasdaq on volume of about 1 Ã,¾ billion.

TheTechTrader.com board was nearly all higher, led by DryShips (DRYS), which exploded, flagged for most of the session, and came on strong in the last hour and a half and closed up 7.15 on more than 3 million shares, which is heavy volume for that stock. It broke out of the recent multi-week consolidation.

Also in that shipping group, recent Chart of the Week Excel Maritime (EXM) gained 3.06.

Other point-plus gainers included Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH), which exploded, gapping up on news, and closed strongly up 6.62 today on 2.8 million. China Medical Technologies (CMED) was up 1.81, JA Solar (JASO) 1.54, and LSB Industries (LXU) up 1.31.

Sigma Designs (SIGM) tagged a new all-time high today over 37, closing at 36.42, up 1.02.

Other large fractional gainers included old favorite Research Frontiers (REFR) up 96 cents, NVE Corp. (NVEC) up 81 cents, Immersion Corp. (IMMR) up 43 cents, Force Protection (FRPT) up 80 cents, Eschelon Corp. (ELON) 74 cents, EMC 55 cents, Ceragon Networks (CRNT) 85 cents, DG FastChannel (DGIT) 65 cents, and Chindex (CHDX) 61 cents.

Recent Chart of the Week Blue Phoenix (BPHX) gained 74 cents.

On the downside, there were only small fractional losses except for FuelTek (FTEK), which lost 89 cents.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the four-day rally continued today strongly at the opening, consolidated for most of the session, and then came on again at the close, closing near the highs for the day, a very strong session for the indices indeed. But they closed at key secondary overhead resistance, and we may be due for some backing and filling or consolidation before we can make further price progress.

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.