Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Technology, Telecoms and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Oil & Gas, Consumer Goods and Utilities sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.18%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.03%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.06%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), which rose 1.85% or 2.88 points to trade at 158.92 at the close. Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) added 1.40% or 0.57 points to end at 41.41 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) was up 0.79% or 0.81 points to 102.78 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which lost 2.21% or 2.58 points to trade at 113.98 in late trade. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) declined 1.88% or 2.67 points to end at 139.71 and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) shed 1.04% or 1.30 points to 123.88.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Michael Kors Holdings Limited (NYSE:KORS) which rose 6.72% to 70.01, Albemarle Corp (NYSE:ALB) which was up 6.42% to settle at 98.77 and CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS) which gained 4.16% to close at 68.17.
The worst performers were Cimarex Energy Co (NYSE:XEC) which was down 8.62% to 88.95 in late trade, Southern Company (NYSE:SO) which lost 4.48% to settle at 46.88 and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) which was down 4.38% to 374.27 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Ability Inc (NASDAQ:ABIL) which rose 124.49% to 6.60, China Bak Battery Inc (NASDAQ:CBAK) which was up 40.98% to settle at 0.719 and Strongbridge Biopharma plc (NASDAQ:SBBP) which gained 31.11% to close at 5.9000.
The worst performers were ReShape Lifesciences Inc (NASDAQ:RSLS) which was down 79.89% to 0.0661 in late trade, Extreme Networks Inc (NASDAQ:EXTR) which lost 32.03% to settle at 6.090 and Egalet Corp (NASDAQ:EGLT) which was down 29.84% to 0.41 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1618 to 1382 and 146 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1349 rose and 1198 declined, while 149 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.37% to 10.78 a new 6-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.28% or 3.40 to $1221.70 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September fell 3.46% or 2.39 to hit $66.78 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 3.28% or 2.45 to trade at $72.20 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.13% to 1.1614, while USD/JPY fell 0.39% to 110.96.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.08% at 94.92.