Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Basic Materials, Telecoms and Technology sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.40%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.38%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.51%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which rose 1.07% or 3.91 points to trade at 370.91 at the close. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) added 0.83% or 1.12 points to end at 135.94 and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) was up 0.76% or 0.89 points to 117.34 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD), which lost 2.20% or 4.96 points to trade at 220.90 in late trade. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) declined 1.70% or 2.91 points to end at 167.77 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) shed 1.62% or 0.61 points to 37.05.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) which rose 14.05% to 126.43, Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) which was up 8.85% to settle at 19.93 and Schlumberger NV (NYSE:SLB) which gained 5.33% to close at 36.14.
The worst performers were L Brands Inc (NYSE:LB) which was down 7.51% to 15.89 in late trade, Nordstrom Inc (NYSE:JWN) which lost 4.37% to settle at 33.95 and Capri Holdings Ltd (NYSE:CPRI) which was down 3.64% to 35.19 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Cancer Genetics Inc (NASDAQ:CGIX) which rose 131.25% to 4.810, Kazia Therapeutics Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:KZIA) which was up 130.16% to settle at 7.400 and Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:DFFN) which gained 67.59% to close at 0.3687.
The worst performers were Genprex Inc (NASDAQ:GNPX) which was down 43.55% to 0.3500 in late trade, CTI Industries Corporation (NASDAQ:CTIB) which lost 26.88% to settle at 0.51 and Professional Diversity Network Inc (NASDAQ:IPDN) which was down 25.68% to 0.9068 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1633 to 1190 and 108 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1676 fell and 983 advanced, while 77 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.62% to 12.78.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.17% or 2.45 to $1471.85 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 3.14% or 1.74 to hit $57.09 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 2.53% or 1.54 to trade at $62.45 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.03% to 1.1075, while USD/JPY fell 0.06% to 108.53.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.06% at 97.797.