Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Healthcare, Technology and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.13%, while the S&P 500 index added 2.12%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 2.64%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 4.46% or 5.77 points to trade at 135.10 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 4.21% or 11.09 points to end at 274.63 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was up 3.94% or 4.24 points to 111.96 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), which lost 0.24% or 0.22 points to trade at 91.29 in late trade. Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) added 0.29% or 0.34 points to end at 117.05 and Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) gained 0.53% or 0.26 points to 49.37.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Cimarex Energy Co (NYSE:XEC) which rose 12.07% to 93.19, DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc (NYSE:DVA) which was up 9.86% to settle at 76.08 and Centene Corp (NYSE:CNC) which gained 9.23% to close at 142.96.
The worst performers were Coty Inc (NYSE:COTY) which was down 22.54% to 8.66 in late trade, Michael Kors Holdings Limited (NYSE:KORS) which lost 14.62% to settle at 49.05 and DXC Technology Co (NYSE:DXC) which was down 12.46% to 63.21 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Forward Pharma A S (NASDAQ:FWP) which rose 47.41% to 1.71, Tilray Inc (NASDAQ:TLRY) which was up 30.64% to settle at 139.60 and Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IDRA) which gained 27.60% to close at 9.200.
The worst performers were MiMedx Group Inc (NASDAQ:MDXG) which was down 41.16% to 3.66 in late trade, I-AM Capital Acquisition Co (NASDAQ:IAM) which lost 24.49% to settle at 7.00 and NCS Multistage Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:NCSM) which was down 34.94% to 8.10 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2346 to 734 and 72 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1807 rose and 845 declined, while 69 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 17.83% to 16.36.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.29% or 3.60 to $1227.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 0.95% or 0.59 to hit $61.62 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 0.12% or 0.09 to trade at $72.04 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.09% to 1.1437, while USD/JPY rose 0.13% to 113.59.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.18% at 95.94.