Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Consumer Services, Technology and Oil & Gas sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.15% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.59%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 1.58%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM), which rose 4.97% or 8.64 points to trade at 182.45 at the close. Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) added 3.75% or 3.74 points to end at 103.35 and Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) was up 1.76% or 1.92 points to 111.11 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which lost 2.93% or 2.71 points to trade at 89.65 in late trade. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) declined 2.74% or 1.38 points to end at 49.07 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shed 2.62% or 13.98 points to 519.47.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Generac Holdlings Inc (NYSE:GNRC) which rose 8.12% to 249.31, Ceridian HCM Holding Inc (NYSE:CDAY) which was up 7.93% to settle at 55.12 and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) which gained 7.40% to close at 39.05.
The worst performers were Elevance Health Inc (NYSE:ELV) which was down 7.62% to 459.54 in late trade, Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) which lost 5.80% to settle at 207.49 and Newmont Goldcorp Corp (NYSE:NEM) which was down 4.28% to 52.31 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Pagaya (NASDAQ:PGY) which rose 129.63% to 6.20, Direct Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:DRCT) which was up 57.73% to settle at 2.35 and Stronghold Digital Mining Inc (NASDAQ:SDIG) which gained 50.00% to close at 3.21.
The worst performers were Vascular Biogenics Ltd (NASDAQ:VBLT) which was down 79.27% to 0.43 in late trade, JE Cleantech Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:JCSE) which lost 75.21% to settle at 3.00 and Adial Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ADIL) which was down 46.74% to 0.98 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2128 to 1049 and 133 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2692 rose and 1028 declined, while 237 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.53% to 23.88 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was down 1.03% or 17.70 to $1,693.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September fell 0.90% or 0.91 to hit $99.83 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 0.57% or 0.61 to trade at $106.74 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.47% to 1.02, while USD/JPY rose 0.08% to 138.29.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.38% at 106.96.