Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Technology and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Telecoms, Consumer Goods and Utilities sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.34%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.04%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.38%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM), which rose 1.43% or 1.13 points to trade at 79.96 at the close. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) added 1.02% or 1.08 points to end at 107.06 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) was up 0.97% or 1.02 points to 105.83 in late trade.
Biggest losers included United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX), which lost 2.02% or 2.74 points to trade at 133.24 in late trade. The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) declined 1.75% or 2.30 points to end at 129.41 and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) shed 1.40% or 0.77 points to 54.14.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW) which rose 5.80% to 105.52, Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) which was up 4.06% to settle at 16.40 and Noble Energy Inc (NYSE:NBL) which gained 3.93% to close at 29.86.
The worst performers were CenturyLink Inc (NYSE:CTL) which was down 6.51% to 22.42 in late trade, Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) which lost 4.45% to settle at 211.04 and Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG) which was down 4.17% to 50.16 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Yulong Eco-Materials Ltd (NASDAQ:YECO) which rose 51.09% to 2.070, Cytori Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CYTX) which was up 39.25% to settle at 0.6903 and EXACT Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) which gained 30.51% to close at 65.32.
The worst performers were New Age Beverages Corp (NASDAQ:NBEV) which was down 16.72% to 1.32 in late trade, Reading International B Inc (NASDAQ:RDIB) which lost 4.32% to settle at 28.100 and Super Micro Computer Inc (NASDAQ:SMCI) which was down 14.71% to 15.65 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1577 to 1423 and 163 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1500 rose and 1025 declined, while 169 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.67% to 12.26.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.23% or 2.80 to $1202.80 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 3.07% or 2.02 to hit $67.86 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 2.85% or 2.07 to trade at $74.70 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.25% to 1.1599, while USD/JPY rose 0.27% to 110.55.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.16% at 94.98.