Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Financials and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.40% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 1.37%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 1.38%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which rose 7.41% or 1.70 points to trade at 24.63 at the close. Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) added 3.13% or 10.44 points to end at 343.64 and Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) was up 3.01% or 1.53 points to 52.35 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which lost 0.83% or 0.31 points to trade at 36.99 in late trade. International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) declined 0.64% or 1.05 points to end at 163.66 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shed 0.00% or 0.01 points to 374.37.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VRTX) which rose 13.23% to 405.07, Revvity Inc (NYSE:RVTY) which was up 10.33% to settle at 98.70 and Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) which gained 9.68% to close at 41.82.
The worst performers were Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) which was down 6.72% to 26.66 in late trade, Linde PLC Ord (NYSE:LIN) which lost 4.21% to settle at 408.74 and Southwest Airlines Company (NYSE:LUV) which was down 3.86% to 29.14 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were C4 Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CCCC) which rose 135.47% to 5.51, Shattuck Labs Inc (NASDAQ:STTK) which was up 130.33% to settle at 4.86 and Avalo Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AVTX) which gained 70.03% to close at 0.06.
The worst performers were Hywin Holdings Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:HYW) which was down 42.61% to 3.30 in late trade, Brilliant Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:BRLI) which lost 35.25% to settle at 6.65 and G1 Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:GTHX) which was down 35.39% to 2.41 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2565 to 371 and 42 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2624 rose and 860 declined, while 91 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.99% to 12.19.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 2.44% or 48.65 to $2,041.85 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 1.73% or 1.19 to hit $69.80 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 1.88% or 1.38 to trade at $74.62 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.80% to 1.09, while USD/JPY fell 1.67% to 143.00.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.91% at 102.52.