Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Healthcare, Utilities and Telecoms sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4.53%, while the S&P 500 index added 4.22%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 3.85%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 10.72% or 28.02 points to trade at 289.42 at the close. American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) added 7.12% or 7.69 points to end at 115.70 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) was up 6.12% or 2.10 points to 36.40 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which added 0.89% or 2.50 points to trade at 283.12 in late trade. Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) added 2.18% or 1.12 points to end at 52.42 and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) gained 2.34% or 2.73 points to 119.18.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Anthem Inc (NYSE:ANTM) which rose 15.62% to 296.42, Centene Corp (NYSE:CNC) which was up 15.60% to settle at 62.46 and Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) which gained 14.44% to close at 372.34.
The worst performers were Dollar Tree Inc (NASDAQ:DLTR) which was down 3.56% to 78.91 in late trade, Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) which lost 3.51% to settle at 15.39 and The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) which was down 2.95% to 37.16 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Taronis Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:TRNX) which rose 66.62% to 0.350, Cellect Biotechnology Ltd (NASDAQ:APOP) which was up 46.38% to settle at 3.030 and Biocept Inc (NASDAQ:BIOC) which gained 38.48% to close at 0.5650.
The worst performers were Cardlytics Inc (NASDAQ:CDLX) which was down 36.72% to 54.55 in late trade, Recro Pharm (NASDAQ:REPH) which lost 23.34% to settle at 11.00 and Allied Healthcare Products Inc (NASDAQ:AHPI) which was down 19.30% to 16.140 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2372 to 459 and 49 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2064 rose and 571 declined, while 58 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 13.12% to 31.99.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.42% or 6.85 to $1637.55 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 0.04% or 0.02 to hit $47.20 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.16% or 0.08 to trade at $51.67 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.00% to 1.1134, while USD/JPY rose 0.06% to 107.58.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.22% at 97.340.