Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Healthcare, Basic Materials and Technology sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.35%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.52%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.81%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which rose 0.99% or 0.59 points to trade at 60.21 at the close. Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) added 0.55% or 0.56 points to end at 102.24 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) was up 0.41% or 0.48 points to 117.11 in late trade.
Biggest losers included UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which lost 1.48% or 2.10 points to trade at 139.91 in late trade. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) declined 1.29% or 0.82 points to end at 62.76 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) shed 1.00% or 0.84 points to 83.17.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Kroger Company (NYSE:KR) which rose 2.36% to 33.01, Qorvo Inc (NASDAQ:QRVO) which was up 2.28% to settle at 57.31 and FLIR Systems Inc (NASDAQ:FLIR) which gained 2.22% to close at 31.30.
The worst performers were Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE:NEM) which was down 7.62% to 39.86 in late trade, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which lost 7.43% to settle at 11.09 and Endo International PLC (NASDAQ:ENDP) which was down 6.64% to 22.09 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Nymox Pharmaceutical Corp (NASDAQ:NYMX) which rose 83.13% to 4.450, Xtera Communications Inc (NASDAQ:XCOM) which was up 52.71% to settle at 0.540 and xG Technology Inc (NASDAQ:XGTI) which gained 36.59% to close at 0.5600.
The worst performers were Wowo Ltd (NASDAQ:JMU) which was down 18.62% to 3.410 in late trade, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ARWR) which lost 14.73% to settle at 6.89 and Intellia Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:NTLA) which was down 13.96% to 21.08 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2208 to 937 and 115 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1653 fell and 843 advanced, while 112 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 8.80% to 13.47 a new 1-month high.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was down 1.36% or 18.30 to $1327.80 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 2.72% or 1.31 to hit $46.79 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 1.88% or 0.94 to trade at $49.02 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.34% to 1.1267, while USD/JPY rose 0.23% to 100.48.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.23% at 94.72.