Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Healthcare and Telecoms sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Industrials, Technology and Consumer Services sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.24%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.25%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 1.07%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which rose 4.49% or 7.12 points to trade at 165.61 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 3.24% or 15.98 points to end at 509.23 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 2.83% or 3.08 points to 111.91 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which lost 2.26% or 2.79 points to trade at 120.90 in late trade. Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) declined 2.13% or 6.29 points to end at 288.67 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) shed 1.82% or 3.90 points to 210.00.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) which rose 6.26% to 104.43, Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) which was up 6.01% to settle at 135.09 and Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC) which gained 5.48% to close at 132.71.
The worst performers were MarketAxess Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MKTX) which was down 13.91% to 337.74 in late trade, Signature Bank (OTC:SBNY) which lost 8.93% to settle at 0.15 and Caesars Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ:CZR) which was down 6.18% to 45.82 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Jowell Global Ltd. (NASDAQ:JWEL) which rose 146.47% to 0.42, Liminal BioSciences Inc (NASDAQ:LMNL) which was up 85.64% to settle at 6.72 and InflaRx N.V. (NASDAQ:IFRX) which gained 61.80% to close at 6.10.
The worst performers were Secoo Holding Ltd (NASDAQ:SECO) which was down 39.69% to 0.88 in late trade, BullFrog AI Holdings Inc Unit (NASDAQ:BFRG) which lost 32.00% to settle at 4.08 and Guardforce AI Co Ltd (NASDAQ:GFAI) which was down 31.56% to 8.89 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1884 to 1105 and 112 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2437 fell and 1154 advanced, while 190 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.42% to 19.08.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.05% or 1.00 to $2,037.20 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.42% or 0.34 to hit $80.37 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 0.20% or 0.17 to trade at $84.77 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.47% to 1.09, while USD/JPY fell 0.26% to 131.35.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.34% at 101.61.