Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Goods and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Basic Materials, Oil & Gas and Financials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.33% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.07%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.05%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which rose 7.32% or 10.14 points to trade at 148.72 at the close. Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) added 2.00% or 1.79 points to end at 91.29 and Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) was up 1.56% or 1.86 points to 120.98 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW), which lost 2.72% or 1.50 points to trade at 53.66 in late trade. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) declined 1.26% or 1.85 points to end at 144.49 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) shed 1.00% or 0.37 points to 36.60.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) which rose 7.32% to 148.72, ConAgra Foods Inc (NYSE:CAG) which was up 2.65% to settle at 28.31 and Xcel Energy Inc (NASDAQ:XEL) which gained 2.44% to close at 61.64.
The worst performers were Mosaic Co (NYSE:MOS) which was down 6.02% to 19.68 in late trade, Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) which lost 3.95% to settle at 68.97 and Progressive Corp (NYSE:PGR) which was down 3.75% to 71.67 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Nortech Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:NSYS) which rose 48.98% to 4.100, FuelCell Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FCEL) which was up 48.62% to settle at 0.810 and Ideaya Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:IDYA) which gained 47.44% to close at 8.50.
The worst performers were Nuvectra Corp (NASDAQ:NVTR) which was down 83.79% to 0.23 in late trade, Applied DNA Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:APDN) which lost 72.74% to settle at 5.180 and Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:DFFN) which was down 54.74% to 0.2490 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1589 to 1250 and 90 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1523 fell and 1110 advanced, while 87 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 2.52% to 13.00.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.72% or 10.45 to $1464.15 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 0.99% or 0.56 to hit $57.36 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 0.85% or 0.53 to trade at $62.59 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.01% to 1.1007, while USD/JPY fell 0.02% to 108.78.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.04% at 98.190.