Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Telecoms and Financials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.20% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.41%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.29%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), which rose 1.75% or 1.42 points to trade at 82.70 at the close. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) added 1.62% or 1.32 points to end at 82.55 and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was up 1.44% or 1.93 points to 136.30 in late trade.
Biggest losers included EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD), which lost 1.26% or 0.79 points to trade at 62.15 in late trade. Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) declined 1.11% or 0.70 points to end at 62.22 and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) shed 0.67% or 0.65 points to 97.00.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) which rose 23.19% to 3.40, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which was up 15.59% to settle at 8.97 and Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) which gained 14.32% to close at 9.10.
The worst performers were Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) which was down 7.77% to 85.30 in late trade, CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE:CF) which lost 4.17% to settle at 34.74 and Dollar Tree Inc (NASDAQ:DLTR) which was down 3.97% to 78.77 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Paragon Shipping Inc (NASDAQ:PRGN) which rose 198.29% to 3.4900, Professional Diversity Network Inc (NASDAQ:IPDN) which was up 40.34% to settle at 0.4491 and Rex Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:REXX) which gained 35.18% to close at 0.8200.
The worst performers were Sutor Technology Group Ltd (NASDAQ:TOR) which was down 21.63% to 0.3510 in late trade, Skyline Medical Inc (NASDAQ:SKLN) which lost 19.54% to settle at 0.3500 and Medical Tra (NASDAQ:MTBC) which was down 10.00% to 0.7225 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2264 to 1099 and 31 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1720 rose and 871 declined, while 60 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.73% to 17.04 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold for April delivery was up 0.82% or 10.10 to $1240.90 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 1.16% or 0.40 to hit $34.80 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.84% or 0.31 to trade at $37.12 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.00% to 1.0867, while USD/JPY fell 0.54% to 113.40.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.14% at 98.20.