The stock market indices had a very strong session, but a late afternoon sell-off really took the excitement out of it by taking back a big chunk of the gains in the last hour or so. The day started out with a large gap up, and then they pulled back sharply, particularly on the Nasdaq 100, but not on the S&P 500. That held very well, holding the 1321 support area. They then started a rally that stair-stepped sharply higher all morning and into the mid-afternoon. The NDX jumped from 2474 to 2497, and the S&P 500 jumped from 1321 to 1330.50. They came down, bounced, formed a mini head-and-shoulders, and then broke late in the session. There was a little bit of a snapback at the close, but not much.
The indices ended the session up, but it was a little disappointing.
Net on the day, the Dow was up 83.55 at 12,716.46, down from the high at 12,784.62, or nearly 70 points off the high. The S&P 500 was up 11.67 to 1324.08, or 6 1/2 points off the high, and the Nasdaq 100 up 20.23 at 2488.18, or 9 points off its high. It was only 2 1/2 points under 2500 at the high for the day.
It was a very good technical day today. Advance-declines were 5 to 1 positive on the New York Stock Exchange, and 3 1/2 to 1 positive on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 6 1/2 to 1 positive on New York, with total volume of 877 million shares traded today. Nasdaq traded just under 2.1 billion shares, with nearly 1.8 billion to the upside.
It was a very strong day on Nasdaq, in particular. All of that despite the fact that Apple Inc. (AAPL) barely changed today at all, losing 29 cents to 456.19. The rest of Nasdaq stocks did well today. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), which was over 30 at one point in the day, closed up 36 cents to 29.89. That's the first time in a couple years that it's been over 30.
TheTechTrader.com board, as a result, had a positive day today. Leading the way by far, Key Tronic Corporation (KTCC), on a 1000% increase in volume, was up 2.71 to 8.95, or 43.4%, on 1.5 million shares on a massive technical breakout from a major base pattern. Medivation, Inc. (MDVN) gained 12.16 to 67.57, or 22%, on positive drug news and a takeover. Multimedia Games Inc. (MGAM) advanced 2.63 to 10.16, or 35%, on 1.6 million, also over a 1000% increase in volume in a key technical breakout today. Corinthian Colleges Inc. (COCO) rose 1.10 to 4.13, or 36.3%, on 11 million. That also broke out today.
There were very many breakouts across the board today.