Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Technology, Utilities and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Oil & Gas, Healthcare and Telecoms sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.18%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.14%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.40%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which rose 1.76% or 0.45 points to trade at 25.98 at the close. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) added 1.05% or 2.58 points to end at 248.72 and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) was up 1.00% or 2.88 points to 291.49 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which lost 2.69% or 2.99 points to trade at 108.28 in late trade. The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) declined 1.44% or 2.60 points to end at 177.77 and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) shed 1.00% or 0.38 points to 37.53.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) which rose 3.97% to 85.37, Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) which was up 3.87% to settle at 148.40 and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) which gained 3.83% to close at 241.81.
The worst performers were Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NCLH) which was down 4.26% to 15.28 in late trade, Brown Forman (NYSE:BFb) which lost 4.20% to settle at 63.48 and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) which was down 3.70% to 745.20 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Kimball International Inc (NASDAQ:KBAL) which rose 84.35% to 12.37, Castor Maritime Inc (NASDAQ:CTRM) which was up 75.93% to settle at 0.95 and Maxeon Solar Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:MAXN) which gained 44.00% to close at 27.00.
The worst performers were SRAX Inc (NASDAQ:SRAX) which was down 62.03% to 0.60 in late trade, Intelligent Bio Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:INBS) which lost 42.66% to settle at 3.40 and ETAO International Co Ltd (NASDAQ:ETAO) which was down 40.75% to 1.89 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1573 to 1453 and 119 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1934 fell and 1682 advanced, while 194 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.40% to 19.12.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.10% or 1.75 to $1,818.25 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 1.37% or 1.06 to hit $76.52 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.95% or 0.79 to trade at $82.50 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.01% to 1.05, while USD/JPY rose 0.13% to 137.32.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.05% at 105.64.