Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Telecoms sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.47% to hit a new 3-months low, while the S&P 500 index fell 1.31%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 1.14%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Wal-Mart Stores Inc (N:WMT), which rose 1.08% or 0.68 points to trade at 63.60 at the close. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson (N:JNJ) fell 0.51% or 0.51 points to end at 100.39 and International Business Machines (N:IBM) was down 0.50% or 0.68 points to 135.17 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Chevron Corporation (N:CVX), which fell 3.95% or 3.54 points to trade at 86.07 at the close. American Express Company (N:AXP) declined 2.78% or 1.84 points to end at 64.42 and United Technologies Corporation (N:UTX) was down 2.73% or 2.61 points to 93.11.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Netflix Inc (O:NFLX) which rose 9.31% to 117.68, Time Warner Inc (N:TWX) which was up 4.76% to settle at 68.64 and Hasbro Inc (O:HAS) which gained 2.51% to close at 69.89.
The worst performers were Williams Companies Inc (N:WMB) which was down 12.80% to 22.96 in late trade, Southwestern Energy Company (N:SWN) which lost 12.55% to settle at 6.69 and Marathon Oil Corporation (N:MRO) which was down 11.64% to 11.28 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Majesco Entertainment Company (O:COOL) which rose 59.90% to 1.631, American Independence Corp (O:AMIC) which was up 42.04% to settle at 12.45 and Moko Social (O:MOKO) which gained 47.54% to close at 0.90.
The worst performers were Sutor Technology Group Ltd (O:TOR) which was down 35.19% to 0.700 in late trade, Perseon Corp (O:PRSN) which lost 25.00% to settle at 0.165 and Star Bulk Carriers Corp (O:SBLK) which was down 26.48% to 0.420 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2481 to 943 and 5 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1863 fell and 790 advanced, while 24 ended unchanged.
Shares in Marathon Oil Corporation (N:MRO) fell to 5-year lows; down 11.64% or 1.49 to 11.28. Shares in American Express Company (N:AXP) fell to 52-week lows; down 2.78% or 1.84 to 64.42. Shares in American Independence Corp (O:AMIC) rose to 52-week highs; up 42.04% or 3.68 to 12.45. Shares in Perseon Corp (O:PRSN) fell to all time lows; losing 25.00% or 0.055 to 0.165. Shares in Star Bulk Carriers Corp (O:SBLK) fell to all time lows; down 26.48% or 0.151 to 0.420.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 5.64% to 20.43.
Gold for February delivery was up 1.38% or 14.90 to $1093.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 5.55% or 2.00 to hit $33.98 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 5.81% or 2.12 to trade at $34.30 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.35% to 1.0785, while USD/JPY fell 0.50% to 118.47.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.17% at 99.29.