Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Telecoms and Consumer Goods sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Technology, Consumer Services and Oil & Gas sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.09%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.28%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 1.19%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 1.70% or 2.35 points to trade at 140.59 at the close. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) added 1.60% or 2.14 points to end at 135.86 and 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) was up 1.55% or 3.23 points to 211.83 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Visa Inc (NYSE:V), which lost 3.47% or 5.13 points to trade at 142.67 in late trade. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) declined 2.88% or 3.22 points to end at 108.49 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) shed 1.24% or 1.33 points to 105.68.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ:GT) which rose 4.79% to 23.42, CenterPoint Energy Inc (NYSE:CNP) which was up 3.58% to settle at 28.92 and Henry Schein Inc (NASDAQ:HSIC) which gained 3.54% to close at 80.65.
The worst performers were Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) which was down 6.17% to 341.18 in late trade, Robert Half International Inc (NYSE:RHI) which lost 5.97% to settle at 74.08 and Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) which was down 5.95% to 37.13 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were ProQR Therapeutics NV (NASDAQ:PRQR) which rose 120.75% to 17.550, Mercantil Bank Holding Corp Class B (NASDAQ:MBNAB) which was up 31.49% to settle at 20.00 and Synlogic Inc (NASDAQ:SYBX) which gained 18.92% to close at 12.760.
The worst performers were Histogenics Corp (NASDAQ:HSGX) which was down 72.56% to 0.760 in late trade, Mercantil Bank Holding Corp Class A (NASDAQ:MBNAA) which lost 56.49% to settle at 25.25 and Sangamo Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SGMO) which was down 23.62% to 14.55 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1651 to 1383 and 123 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1568 fell and 990 advanced, while 136 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 4.79% to 13.79.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.24% or 2.90 to $1202.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 1.40% or 0.98 to hit $68.89 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract fell 1.07% or 0.84 to trade at $77.33 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.42% to 1.1631, while USD/JPY rose 0.09% to 111.54.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.31% at 95.07.