Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Technology, Consumer Services and Oil & Gas sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.23% to hit a new 6-month high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.57%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.99%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which rose 1.60% or 1.76 points to trade at 112.02 at the close. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) added 1.49% or 3.28 points to end at 222.98 and Visa Inc (NYSE:V) was up 1.26% or 1.83 points to 147.03 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which lost 0.89% or 0.62 points to trade at 68.66 in late trade. United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) declined 0.65% or 0.88 points to end at 133.62 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) shed 0.53% or 0.57 points to 106.71.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) which rose 5.17% to 21.77, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) which was up 4.25% to settle at 406.62 and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) which gained 3.38% to close at 1998.10.
The worst performers were Tiffany & Co (NYSE:TIF) which was down 4.26% to 125.48 in late trade, BorgWarner Inc (NYSE:BWA) which lost 2.14% to settle at 45.20 and Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) which was down 1.98% to 63.39 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Opiant Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OPNT) which rose 37.64% to 21.4300, GreenPro Capital Corp (NASDAQ:GRNQ) which was up 30.11% to settle at 7.546000 and Sophiris Bio Inc (NASDAQ:SPHS) which gained 24.61% to close at 3.190.
The worst performers were Carver Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:CARV) which was down 14.46% to 4.850 in late trade, One Stop Systems Inc (NASDAQ:OSS) which lost 11.53% to settle at 3.65 and ScanSource Inc (NASDAQ:SCSC) which was down 12.75% to 37.65 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1791 to 1199 and 162 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1501 rose and 1055 declined, while 155 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.84% to 12.27.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.08% or 1.00 to $1213.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 1.71% or 1.17 to hit $69.70 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 1.82% or 1.39 to trade at $77.68 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.11% to 1.1709, while USD/JPY rose 0.43% to 111.67.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.19% at 94.45.