Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Technology, Consumer Services and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.45%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.57%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.75%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD), which rose 3.06% or 10.61 points to trade at 356.80 at the close. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) added 1.86% or 6.98 points to end at 382.77 and Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) was up 1.24% or 1.98 points to 161.29 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which lost 2.68% or 0.68 points to trade at 24.68 in late trade. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) declined 1.21% or 0.58 points to end at 47.47 and Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) shed 1.04% or 0.56 points to 53.38.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Intuitive Surgical Inc (NASDAQ:ISRG) which rose 10.25% to 364.45, Palo Alto Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PANW) which was up 5.22% to settle at 316.09 and Viatris Inc (NASDAQ:VTRS) which gained 4.31% to close at 12.10.
The worst performers were Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) which was down 3.53% to 137.10 in late trade, Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) which lost 3.00% to settle at 128.94 and Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) which was down 2.85% to 129.41 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Nauticus Robotics Inc (NASDAQ:KITT) which rose 78.65% to 0.52, Greenbrook TMS Inc (NASDAQ:GBNH) which was up 59.56% to settle at 0.43 and Clearmind Medicine Inc (NASDAQ:CMND) which gained 41.55% to close at 2.93.
The worst performers were DocGo Inc (NASDAQ:DCGO) which was down 37.58% to 2.99 in late trade, Pono Capital Three Inc (NASDAQ:PTHR) which lost 31.86% to settle at 5.41 and Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:EKSO) which was down 27.93% to 2.15 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1570 to 1284 and 83 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1804 fell and 1603 advanced, while 109 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.55% to 12.69.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.20% or 4.15 to $2,028.85 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 1.26% or 0.91 to hit $71.33 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 1.06% or 0.82 to trade at $76.77 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.36% to 1.10, while USD/JPY rose 0.91% to 145.79.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.18% at 102.10.