Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Telecoms, Technology and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.85% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.72%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 1.06%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which rose 3.64% or 13.45 points to trade at 382.94 at the close. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) added 3.18% or 6.89 points to end at 223.59 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) was up 2.15% or 2.80 points to 133.09 in late trade.
Biggest losers included International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), which lost 1.00% or 1.45 points to trade at 143.60 in late trade. Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:V) declined 0.78% or 1.37 points to end at 174.98 and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) shed 0.47% or 0.57 points to 121.28.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were CenturyLink Inc (NYSE:CTL) which rose 5.63% to 13.31, Illumina Inc (NASDAQ:ILMN) which was up 4.93% to settle at 289.66 and Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) which gained 4.73% to close at 19.25.
The worst performers were Baker Hughes A Ge Company LLC (NYSE:BHGE) which was down 7.55% to 22.29 in late trade, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (NASDAQ:TTWO) which lost 4.50% to settle at 122.62 and VeriSign Inc (NASDAQ:VRSN) which was down 3.03% to 190.75 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were T2 Biosystms Inc (NASDAQ:TTOO) which rose 82.52% to 2.61, Francescas Holdings (NASDAQ:FRAN) which was up 59.42% to settle at 16.58 and MER Telemanagement Solutions Ltd (NASDAQ:MTSL) which gained 33.18% to close at 1.2250.
The worst performers were Top Ships Inc (NASDAQ:TOPS) which was down 47.83% to 4.3300 in late trade, Aridis Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ARDS) which lost 22.38% to settle at 8.15 and Sundance Energy Australia Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:SNDE) which was down 22.09% to 1.34 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2101 to 847 and 97 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2001 rose and 664 declined, while 70 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.88% to 14.61 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.40% or 5.95 to $1505.15 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 2.53% or 1.45 to hit $55.95 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract fell 0.10% or 0.06 to trade at $61.02 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.00% to 1.1009, while USD/JPY rose 0.00% to 107.81.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.31% at 98.612.