Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Industrials, Telecoms and Oil & Gas sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Utilities, Technology and Consumer Goods sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.31% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.08%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.11%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 2.75% or 2.57 points to trade at 96.19 at the close. American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) added 1.60% or 1.15 points to end at 72.86 and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) was up 1.48% or 0.73 points to 50.22 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which lost 1.18% or 0.72 points to trade at 60.40 in late trade. EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) declined 0.82% or 0.58 points to end at 70.33 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) shed 0.82% or 0.29 points to 35.19.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) which rose 11.04% to 102.17, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which was up 7.18% to settle at 16.20 and Jacobs Engineering Group Inc (NYSE:JEC) which gained 3.99% to close at 61.69.
The worst performers were Urban Outfitters Inc (NASDAQ:URBN) which was down 12.05% to 34.31 in late trade, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) which lost 10.53% to settle at 67.99 and HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ) which was down 6.83% to 14.86 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Interpace Diagnostics Group Inc (NASDAQ:IDXG) which rose 67.92% to 0.1340, Transgenomi (NASDAQ:TBIO) which was up 60.24% to settle at 0.2700 and Euroseas Ltd (NASDAQ:ESEA) which gained 47.67% to close at 2.850.
The worst performers were Cellectar Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:CLRB) which was down 31.02% to 1.4900 in late trade, Bellerophon Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:BLPH) which lost 25.36% to settle at 0.560 and Juno Therapeutic (NASDAQ:JUNO) which was down 24.50% to 22.56 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1595 to 1551 and 98 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1487 rose and 943 declined, while 179 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.24% to 12.44.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was down 1.85% or 22.45 to $1188.75 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 0.12% or 0.06 to hit $47.97 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 0.35% or 0.17 to trade at $48.95 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.68% to 1.0553, while USD/JPY rose 1.14% to 112.43.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.63% at 101.73.