Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Financials and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.13% to hit a new 3-months high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 1.18%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 1.30%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Apple Inc (O:AAPL), which rose 4.13% or 4.73 points to trade at 119.28 at the close. Meanwhile, Merck & Company Inc (N:MRK) added 3.05% or 1.63 points to end at 55.10 and JPMorgan Chase & Co (N:JPM) was up 2.92% or 1.86 points to 65.50 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Procter & Gamble Company (N:PG), which fell 1.01% or 0.78 points to trade at 76.51 at the close. Home Depot Inc (N:HD) declined 0.52% or 0.65 points to end at 123.82 and Boeing Company (N:BA) was down 0.39% or 0.58 points to 147.88.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Genworth Financial Inc (N:GNW) which rose 10.25% to 5.27, L-3 Communications Holdings Inc (N:LLL) which was up 9.64% to settle at 125.59 and Boston Scientific Corporation (N:BSX) which gained 9.39% to close at 18.40.
The worst performers were Akamai Technologies Inc (O:AKAM) which was down 16.73% to 62.91 in late trade, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (O:WBA) which lost 10.73% to settle at 84.95 and Verisk Analytics Inc (O:VRSK) which was down 9.55% to 72.66 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Great Basin Scientific Inc (O:GBSN) which rose 37.14% to 0.0720, Jaguar Animal Health Inc (O:JAGX) which was up 32.85% to settle at 2.75 and Fusion Tele (O:FSNN) which gained 29.38% to close at 2.73.
The worst performers were Macrocure Ltd (O:MCUR) which was down 61.27% to 1.65 in late trade, Escalera Resources Co (O:ESCR) which lost 31.15% to settle at 0.040 and Bel Fuse B Inc (O:BELFB) which was down 22.46% to 17.78 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2031 to 501 and 2 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2068 rose and 510 declined, while 40 ended unchanged.
Shares in Macrocure Ltd (O:MCUR) fell to all time lows; down 61.27% or 2.61 to 1.65. Shares in Escalera Resources Co (O:ESCR) fell to all time lows; down 31.15% or 0.018 to 0.040.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 7.19% to 14.32 a new 1-month low.
Gold for December delivery was down 0.80% or 9.30 to $1156.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 6.92% or 2.99 to hit $46.19 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 5.10% or 2.38 to trade at $49.20 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 1.10% to 1.0924, while USD/JPY rose 0.46% to 121.01.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.69% at 97.69.