Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.31%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.54%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.64%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were E I du Pont de Nemours & Co (NYSE:DD), which rose 1.61% or 1.35 points to trade at 85.35 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) added 1.27% or 2.64 points to end at 210.88 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was up 1.25% or 2.34 points to 189.19 in late trade.
Biggest losers included International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), which lost 4.20% or 6.47 points to trade at 147.53 in late trade. Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) declined 0.43% or 0.33 points to end at 75.87 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) shed 0.20% or 0.44 points to 222.87.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VRTX) which rose 20.88% to 159.76, Scripps Networks Interactive Inc (NASDAQ:SNI) which was up 14.73% to settle at 76.89 and Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) which gained 6.73% to close at 26.33.
The worst performers were Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) which was down 8.38% to 89.21 in late trade, WW Grainger Inc (NYSE:GWW) which lost 7.04% to settle at 162.19 and Navient Corp (NASDAQ:NAVI) which was down 6.83% to 15.28 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were AEterna Zentaris Inc (NASDAQ:AEZS) which rose 129.41% to 2.340, Lianluo Smart Ltd (NASDAQ:LLIT) which was up 24.79% to settle at 1.460 and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VRTX) which gained 20.88% to close at 159.76.
The worst performers were Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CYCC) which was down 40.48% to 1.7500 in late trade, DryShips Inc (NASDAQ:DRYS) which lost 39.84% to settle at 0.50 and Spherix Incorporated (NASDAQ:SPEX) which was down 27.34% to 1.9400 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2271 to 849 and 135 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1627 rose and 862 declined, while 149 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.81% to 9.81.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.11% or 1.31 to $1240.59 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 1.55% or 0.72 to hit $47.12 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 1.74% or 0.85 to trade at $49.69 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.34% to 1.1515, while USD/JPY fell 0.21% to 111.84.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.18% at 94.62.