Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Technology sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Utilities, Healthcare and Consumer Goods sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.00%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.30%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.92%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which rose 1.76% or 1.25 points to trade at 72.37 at the close. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) added 1.38% or 1.40 points to end at 103.11 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) was up 1.31% or 1.60 points to 123.87 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which lost 3.05% or 4.46 points to trade at 141.99 in late trade. Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) declined 1.33% or 0.66 points to end at 48.73 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) shed 0.99% or 0.43 points to 43.10.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) which rose 14.91% to 52.96, Autodesk Inc (NASDAQ:ADSK) which was up 9.74% to settle at 135.04 and Hanesbrands Inc (NYSE:HBI) which gained 6.58% to close at 15.72.
The worst performers were Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) which was down 3.05% to 141.99 in late trade, Philip Morris International Inc (NYSE:PM) which lost 3.00% to settle at 83.95 and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) which was down 2.93% to 144.71 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Ability Inc (NASDAQ:ABIL) which rose 96.81% to 5.55, Kodiak Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:KOD) which was up 25.74% to settle at 9.77 and Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Ltd (NASDAQ:KNSA) which gained 24.17% to close at 20.29.
The worst performers were Zion Oil & Gas Inc (NASDAQ:ZN) which was down 56.77% to 0.514 in late trade, Sphere 3D Corp (NASDAQ:ANY) which lost 36.46% to settle at 4.200 and Heat Biologics Inc (NASDAQ:HTBX) which was down 30.73% to 1.420 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2249 to 809 and 76 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1946 rose and 680 declined, while 97 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 7.47% to 20.80.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.42% or 5.10 to $1226.30 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 2.00% or 1.07 to hit $54.50 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 1.41% or 0.88 to trade at $63.41 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.12% to 1.1384, while USD/JPY rose 0.29% to 113.10.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.11% at 96.605.