U.S. stocks took on a bearish tone for the fourth time in the past five sessions, but lower volume eased the sting Wednesday.
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 lost 0.7% and 0.6% respectively, while the Dow Jones industrial average trimmed 0.5%. Utilities did best with the Dow Jones utility average rising 1.4%.
Intraday Wednesday, the Nasdaq dipped to 5% off its April 20 high. This marks the deepest pullback since the indexes began climbing around mid-February.
Blue chips were mostly down, but McDonald's (MCD) thrust 1% in roughly average volume. The stock retook a 128.84 buy point in a three-weeks-tight pattern. The global hamburger chain initially cleared the entry April 18 in slow trade but then fell under the buy point.
A three-weeks-tight is a bullish pattern best used for adding a few shares to an existing position. Ideally, the stock should clear the entry in volume at least 40% above average. McDonald's is up about 10% so far this year, a nice gain in a tough market.
In the IBD 50, a collection of the best stocks in fundamentals and technicals, only Paycom Software (PAYC) rose more than 2%. On the downside, a dozen stocks fell more than 2%. You can see the list updated every day at IBD Leaderboard.
Among IBD's 197 industry groups, utilities and cosmetics did best. Gold miners were among the hardest-hit stocks.
