The markets had another firm session, but the indices moved back and forth several times before settling in at the close. The day started out with a move up. They sold off sharply, made new lows on the Nasdaq 100 but held on the S&P 500. That caused a reversal and a strong mid-morning rally that went into just about the lunch hour, when the Nasdaq 100 reached its earlier highs. The S&P 500 made new highs at that point, but was not confirmed by the NDX, and then they pulled back into early afternoon. Another mid-afternoon rally brought the indices back up towards the highs, but they couldn't punch through, and they rolled back in the last 30-40 minuets or so to close off the highs but still up on the day.

The Dow was up nearly 58, the S&P 500 up 6 1/4, and the Nasdaq 100 up only 4 1/4. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) was up 3 1/2.

The technicals confirmed the day, with advance-declines 5 to 3 positive on New York but just 16 to 13 ahead on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 2 to 1 positive on New York and 11 to 7 on Nasdaq. Total volume was about 1 1/4 billion on New York and 1.85 billion on Nasdaq.

TheTechTrader.com board was mixed but mostly higher, with some outstanding gainers. Medical stock Cardica (CRDC), which announced a new non-invasive surgical device, soared another 3.22 or 30% on 22 million shares, more than twice its outstanding float.

Shipping stocks continued firm, with DryShips (DRYS) up 2.18 and Excel Maritime(EXM) up 1.62.

JA Solar (JASO) was up 2.61, but LDK was down 2.76. Solar Power was up 1.28, and VMWare (VMW) gained 5.58 today.

Among the fractional gainers, portfolio position Cepheid (CPHD) was up 82 cents, China Medical Technologies (CMED) up 59 cents, Chindex (CHDX) 44 cents, GIGM 49 cents, Research Frontiers (REFR) up 38 cents, and Taser (TASR), one of our other portfolio positions, up 48 cents.

On the downside, previously mentioned LDK was the only point-plus loser on my board today. FuelTek (FTEK) lost 71 cents, BPHX 58 cents, and SCON lost 73 cents. Vicon Industries (VII) gave back 40 cents.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, even though the indices gained today, the overall patterns appear to be of a corrective nature and could lead to further downside, which we're kind of expecting. We'll be watching resistance at 2006 on the Nasdaq 100 and 1481 on the S&P 500 to see if they can break them to the upside.

Support on the downside is at 1992-3 range on the Nasdaq 100 and then 1984-85. S&P 500 support is distinctly around the 1466-68 zone, and we'll be watching that carefully.

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.