Investing.com – U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Telecoms, Utilities and Healthcare sectors led shares higher while losses in the Technology, Basic Materials and Consumer Services sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.06%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.20%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.24%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Wal-Mart Stores Inc (N:WMT), which rose 2.38% or 1.46 points to trade at 62.92 at the close. Meanwhile, EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (N:DD) added 1.92% or 1.21 points to end at 64.28 and Verizon Communications Inc (N:VZ) was up 1.37% or 0.63 points to 46.50 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Apple Inc (O:AAPL), which fell 2.50% or 2.64 points to trade at 102.71 at the close. Walt Disney Company (N:DIS) declined 2.02% or 2.08 points to end at 100.90 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (N:GS) was down 1.72% or 3.05 points to 174.09.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were First Solar Inc (O:FSLR) which rose 7.96% to 72.03, FLIR Systems Inc (O:FLIR) which was up 5.43% to settle at 30.31 and NRG Energy Inc (N:NRG) which gained 3.86% to close at 11.97.
The worst performers were Ensco PLC (N:ESV) which was down 6.29% to 14.89 in late trade, Qorvo Inc (O:QRVO) which lost 6.29% to settle at 47.53 and Skyworks Solutions Inc (O:SWKS) which was down 5.95% to 73.29 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Sutor Technology Group Ltd (O:TOR) which rose 75.00% to 1.050, American Electric Technologies Inc (O:AETI) which was up 69.04% to settle at 3.55 and Heat Biolog (O:HTBX) which gained 55.08% to close at 3.66.
The worst performers were Vapor Corp (O:VPCO) which was down 52.19% to 0.31 in late trade, MannKind Corporation (O:MNKD) which lost 48.44% to settle at 0.748 and Methes Energies International Ltd (O:MEIL) which was down 23.23% to 0.166 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2002 to 1424 and 3 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1373 rose and 1276 declined, while 37 ended unchanged.
Shares in First Solar Inc (O:FSLR) rose to 52-week highs; up 7.96% or 5.31 to 72.03. Shares in Apple Inc (O:AAPL) fell to 52-week lows; down 2.50% or 2.64 to 102.71. Shares in MannKind Corporation (O:MNKD) fell to all time lows; losing 48.44% or 0.702 to 0.748. Shares in Methes Energies International Ltd (O:MEIL) fell to all time lows; down 23.23% or 0.050 to 0.166.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.23% to 19.41.
Gold for February delivery was up 0.20% or 2.10 to $1077.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 2.27% or 0.83 to hit $35.92 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 2.16% or 0.81 to trade at $36.41 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.76% to 1.0749, while USD/JPY fell 0.34% to 119.05.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.54% at 99.47.