Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Technology, Industrials and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Telecoms, Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.03%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.19%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.48%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which rose 1.28% or 0.82 points to trade at 65.03 at the close. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) added 1.13% or 1.58 points to end at 141.42 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was up 0.94% or 0.33 points to 35.37 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which lost 7.05% or 4.09 points to trade at 53.92 in late trade. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) declined 0.90% or 0.45 points to end at 49.71 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) shed 0.83% or 1.93 points to 231.07.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Marriott International Inc (NASDAQ:MAR) which rose 3.41% to 92.14, Ventas Inc (NYSE:VTR) which was up 2.76% to settle at 62.45 and FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) which gained 2.72% to close at 61.22.
The worst performers were Frontier Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:FTR) which was down 10.59% to 2.11 in late trade, Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) which lost 7.05% to settle at 53.92 and Transdigm Group Incorporated (NYSE:TDG) which was down 4.42% to 214.85 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Moleculin Biotech Inc (NASDAQ:MBRX) which rose 24.30% to 1.33, Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IDRA) which was up 19.14% to settle at 2.490 and Sundance Energy Australia Ltd (NASDAQ:SNDE) which gained 14.18% to close at 10.39.
The worst performers were Diana Containerships Inc (NASDAQ:DCIX) which was down 28.07% to 1.6400 in late trade, Vascular Biogenics Ltd (NASDAQ:VBLT) which lost 23.19% to settle at 4.378 and Xcel Brands Inc (NASDAQ:XELB) which was down 22.06% to 2.65 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1701 to 1543 and 27 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1498 fell and 1008 advanced, while 98 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 2.17% to 12.74.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.12% or 1.45 to $1247.95 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.21% or 0.10 to hit $48.14 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.45% or 0.23 to trade at $50.73 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.09% to 1.0800, while USD/JPY fell 0.51% to 111.15.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.08% at 99.47.