Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Healthcare, Financials and Utilities sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.12%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.13%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.21%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 3.71% or 5.65 points to trade at 157.76 at the close. Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) added 1.26% or 1.89 points to end at 151.66 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) was up 1.24% or 0.39 points to 31.93 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), which lost 1.04% or 1.15 points to trade at 109.35 in late trade. American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) declined 0.92% or 0.66 points to end at 71.47 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) shed 0.90% or 0.85 points to 94.05.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALXN) which rose 5.20% to 125.59, Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) which was up 3.88% to settle at 57.60 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) which gained 3.71% to close at 157.76.
The worst performers were Mallinckrodt (NYSE:MNK) which was down 9.10% to 52.42 in late trade, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which lost 5.13% to settle at 14.97 and Delphi Automotive plc (NYSE:DLPH) which was down 4.37% to 63.42 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Genetic Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:GENE) which rose 64.62% to 2.140, Globus Maritime Ltd (NASDAQ:GLBS) which was up 46.19% to settle at 5.5700 and Acasti Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:ACST) which gained 33.33% to close at 1.800.
The worst performers were Nivalis Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:NVLS) which was down 58.88% to 2.570 in late trade, Interpace Diagnostics Group Inc (NASDAQ:IDXG) which lost 41.29% to settle at 0.1762 and Active Power Inc (NASDAQ:ACPW) which was down 23.63% to 0.206 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1688 to 1471 and 95 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1248 fell and 1225 advanced, while 146 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.90% to 12.90.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was down 0.32% or 3.80 to $1187.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 3.84% or 1.81 to hit $45.27 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 3.72% or 1.83 to trade at $47.38 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.35% to 1.0651, while USD/JPY rose 0.38% to 112.36.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.24% at 100.97.