Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Financials, Basic Materials and Utilities sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.59% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.22%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.15%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which rose 9.54% or 17.17 points to trade at 197.08 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 1.79% or 4.59 points to end at 261.46 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) was up 1.45% or 1.42 points to 99.41 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which lost 1.76% or 1.02 points to trade at 57.08 in late trade. Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) declined 1.45% or 0.62 points to end at 42.11 and Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shed 1.37% or 0.65 points to 46.92.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) which rose 9.54% to 197.08, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) which was up 7.16% to settle at 28.45 and United Continental Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) which gained 6.35% to close at 86.36.
The worst performers were Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) which was down 6.22% to 8.29 in late trade, Nordstrom Inc (NYSE:JWN) which lost 4.76% to settle at 45.01 and Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) which was down 3.36% to 156.64 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Toughbuilt Industries Inc (NASDAQ:TBLT) which rose 156.80% to 3.21, Biocept Inc (NASDAQ:BIOC) which was up 40.12% to settle at 2.340 and Cool Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AWSM) which gained 38.37% to close at 2.380.
The worst performers were Aptinyx Inc (NASDAQ:APTX) which was down 66.46% to 5.98 in late trade, Kitov Pharmaceuticals Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:KTOV) which lost 42.86% to settle at 1.600 and Luokung Technology Corp (NASDAQ:LKCO) which was down 41.72% to 7.110 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1892 to 1110 and 129 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1593 rose and 1039 declined, while 86 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 2.37% to 19.04.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.38% or 4.95 to $1293.35 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.44% or 0.23 to hit $52.34 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 1.15% or 0.70 to trade at $61.34 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.17% to 1.1395, while USD/JPY rose 0.38% to 109.07.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.05% at 95.727.