Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Technology, Basic Materials and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.63% to hit a new 3-month high, while the S&P 500 index added 2.13%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 2.89%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which rose 3.98% or 4.30 points to trade at 112.43 at the close. Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) added 3.50% or 6.37 points to end at 188.61 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) was up 3.35% or 11.29 points to 347.91 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which lost 0.37% or 0.33 points to trade at 89.19 in late trade. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 0.09% or 0.46 points to end at 537.72 and Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) gained 0.21% or 0.27 points to 129.14.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NCLH) which rose 11.82% to 13.53, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) which was up 9.74% to settle at 41.67 and Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) which gained 9.19% to close at 10.34.
The worst performers were CME Group Inc (NASDAQ:CME) which was down 2.24% to 198.40 in late trade, Dollar Tree Inc (NASDAQ:DLTR) which lost 1.76% to settle at 165.97 and Ralph Lauren Corp Class A (NYSE:RL) which was down 1.29% to 95.52 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Bioatla Inc (NASDAQ:BCAB) which rose 83.10% to 6.61, Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS) which was up 41.92% to settle at 3.25 and Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:INFI) which gained 39.19% to close at 1.03.
The worst performers were Redbox Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:RDBX) which was down 52.86% to 1.65 in late trade, OPTIMIZERx Corp (NASDAQ:OPRX) which lost 30.02% to settle at 15.57 and IsoPlexis Corp (NASDAQ:ISO) which was down 30.00% to 2.10 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2690 to 467 and 113 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2934 rose and 819 declined, while 241 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 9.32% to 19.74 a new 3-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.28% or 5.15 to $1,807.15 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 1.14% or 1.03 to hit $91.53 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.74% or 0.71 to trade at $97.02 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.88% to 1.03, while USD/JPY fell 1.63% to 132.93.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 1.09% at 105.10.