Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Industrials and Technology sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.11%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.29%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.44%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX), which rose 1.31% or 1.90 points to trade at 147.27 at the close. Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) added 1.02% or 1.49 points to end at 147.59 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 0.85% or 2.29 points to 270.77 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD), which lost 1.81% or 3.90 points to trade at 212.00 in late trade. Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) declined 1.41% or 1.66 points to end at 116.23 and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) shed 0.68% or 0.40 points to 58.01.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:SWKS) which rose 4.69% to 109.29, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which was up 4.56% to settle at 12.84 and Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT) which gained 4.27% to close at 59.04.
The worst performers were Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) which was down 3.79% to 21.60 in late trade, General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS) which lost 3.12% to settle at 51.58 and L Brands Inc (NYSE:LB) which was down 2.97% to 17.30 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were CTI Industries Corporation (NASDAQ:CTIB) which rose 150.80% to 1.48, Forward Pharma A S (NASDAQ:FWP) which was up 69.91% to settle at 9.60 and Bellicum Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:BLCM) which gained 40.72% to close at 1.13.
The worst performers were Correvio Pharma Corp (NASDAQ:CORV) which was down 67.14% to 0.460 in late trade, Iterum Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ:ITRM) which lost 36.33% to settle at 3.12 and Sienna Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SNNA) which was down 34.79% to 0.13 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1743 to 1066 and 105 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1418 rose and 1240 declined, while 81 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.40% to 14.99.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.76% or 11.20 to $1479.30 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 0.73% or 0.43 to hit $58.81 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.05% or 0.03 to trade at $63.86 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.03% to 1.1132, while USD/JPY rose 0.02% to 108.56.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.26% at 97.127.