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 0.67%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 1.05%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 1.64%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 2.56% or 5.78 points to trade at 231.83 at the close. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) added 2.35% or 7.96 points to end at 346.07 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was up 2.16% or 0.79 points to 37.29 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which lost 2.13% or 0.45 points to trade at 20.63 in late trade. Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) declined 1.84% or 1.89 points to end at 100.88 and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) shed 1.23% or 1.79 points to 143.94.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Generac Holdings Inc (NYSE:GNRC) which rose 14.29% to 96.08, Trane Technologies plc (NYSE:TT) which was up 12.17% to settle at 213.47 and Assurant Inc (NYSE:AIZ) which gained 11.83% to close at 166.52.
The worst performers were Paycom Soft (NYSE:PAYC) which was down 38.48% to 150.71 in late trade, Estee Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE:EL) which lost 18.92% to settle at 104.49 and Match Group Inc (NASDAQ:MTCH) which was down 15.35% to 29.29 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Cellectis SA (NASDAQ:CLLS) which rose 173.86% to 2.64, Patriot Transportation Holding Inc (NASDAQ:PATI) which was up 103.13% to settle at 15.60 and Aldeyra The (NASDAQ:ALDX) which gained 48.54% to close at 2.54.
The worst performers were CohBar Inc (NASDAQ:CWBR) which was down 47.73% to 0.92 in late trade, Tempo Automation Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:TMPO) which lost 44.46% to settle at 0.05 and Tenon Medical Inc (NASDAQ:TNON) which was down 38.02% to 0.09 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1906 to 1035 and 54 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1747 fell and 1717 advanced, while 124 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 7.00% to 16.87.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.39% or 7.70 to $1,986.60 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 0.14% or 0.11 to hit $80.91 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 0.01% or 0.01 to trade at $85.01 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.07% to 1.06, while USD/JPY fell 0.47% to 150.96.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.02% at 106.52.