Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Technology, Utilities and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.21%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.32%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.64%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which rose 1.40% or 0.76 points to trade at 55.21 at the close. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) added 1.36% or 2.17 points to end at 161.62 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 1.23% or 0.72 points to 59.17 in late trade.
Biggest losers included General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which lost 7.26% or 1.11 points to trade at 14.18 in late trade. Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) declined 1.13% or 1.18 points to end at 102.89 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) shed 0.75% or 0.77 points to 101.93.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Tiffany & Co (NYSE:TIF) which rose 23.29% to 126.05, Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) which was up 14.34% to settle at 133.33 and Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW) which gained 10.43% to close at 94.69.
The worst performers were Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE) which was down 10.51% to 15.58 in late trade, General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) which lost 7.26% to settle at 14.18 and Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) which was down 5.70% to 71.17 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Avinger Inc (NASDAQ:AVGR) which rose 72.87% to 2.23, Cara Therapeutic (NASDAQ:CARA) which was up 42.76% to settle at 16.56 and Yangtze River Port and Logistics Ltd (NASDAQ:YRIV) which gained 31.28% to close at 7.05.
The worst performers were Forward Pharma A S (NASDAQ:FWP) which was down 28.61% to 2.92 in late trade, Clementia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CMTA) which lost 20.88% to settle at 14.95 and Clean Diesel Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:CDTI) which was down 19.26% to 0.8235 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1576 to 1462 and 142 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1387 rose and 1129 declined, while 142 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.77% to 12.59 a new 3-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.12% or 1.50 to $1293.50 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 0.65% or 0.47 to hit $71.73 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.14% or 0.11 to trade at $79.68 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.70% to 1.1698, while USD/JPY fell 0.79% to 110.02.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.43% at 93.91.