The markets had a brief moment of weakness at the opening, and that was about it. The markets then turned around and went higher all morning. They consolidated mid-day and continued to rally in the afternoon. Only a last half hour pullback brought them off the highs and fairly sharply so.

Still, net on the day the Dow was up 91, the S&P 500 15 1/2, and the Nasdaq 100 nearly 32. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was up 11, or more than 2 percent.

Technicals were solid with advance-declines 23 to 10 on New York and a little less than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. Up/own volume was the story, though. Despite the fact that only 1 1/3 billion traded on New York, the plurality was about 3 1/2 to 1 positive. Up/down volume on Nasdaq was even better with nearly 1.9 billion traded, and a 5 1/2 to 1 positive majority.

TheTechTrader.com board was mostly higher. There were some outstanding gainers today, particularly among the higher-priced solar energy plays. LDK was up 4.94 and FPWR up 3.48. Junior solar play Ascent Solar (ASTI) was up 73 cents, Hoku Scientific (HOKU) up 1.66, and JA Solar (JASO) up 1.06. HOKU was our Chart of the Day.

Other stocks of note included Sigma Designs (SIGM), which snapped back 1.41. Eschelon Corp. (ELON) was up 1.94 portfolio position CPHD up 1.49, ALVR up 99 cents, and Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH) 76 cents.

Chart of the Week AUXL was up 37 cents. Portfolio position Syntax-Brillian (BRLC) gained 30 cents, Cree Inc. (CREE) advanced 87 cents, GigaMedia (GIGM) 41 cents, Chart of the Week Harmonic Lightwave (HLIT) 36 cents, and portfolio position Nuance Communications (NUAN) up 76 cents. Taser (TASR) also advanced 55 cents in the strong technology sector.

On the downside, fractional losses today included DryShips (DRYS), which gave back 88 cents after soaring earlier in the day ,reversed and gave it all back. OVTI dropped 78 cents, SCON down 49 cents, and VMW lost 1.44 today.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices continued their multi-session advances to new rally highs, by far taking out the 5-week highs on the Nasdaq 100, but failing to do so on the S&P 500, as they turned them back at around 1496 and closed about 7 points off the high on the SPX.

With the indices having tagged the top of their 4-day up-channels, I wasn't surprised to see the late sell-off. Let's see if support holds and they can continue the rally or if they finally experience a deeper pullback. We'll be watching support tomorrow at around the 2015-10 area on the Nasdaq 100 and at the 1485 and 1480 levels on the S&P 500.

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.