Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Technology and Financials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.28%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.05%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.12%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which rose 4.93% or 16.66 points to trade at 354.37 at the close. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) added 2.45% or 2.27 points to end at 95.01 and General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) was up 1.38% or 0.22 points to 16.17 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which lost 2.98% or 4.24 points to trade at 138.19 in late trade. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) declined 2.31% or 1.40 points to end at 59.25 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) shed 2.01% or 0.76 points to 37.04.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ:EA) which rose 6.96% to 126.96, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) which was up 6.72% to settle at 13.735 and Digital Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:DLR) which gained 5.06% to close at 111.95.
The worst performers were Juniper Networks Inc (NYSE:JNPR) which was down 7.66% to 26.15 in late trade, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) which lost 5.39% to settle at 81.45 and Harley-Davidson Inc (NYSE:HOG) which was down 4.68% to 48.46 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Cascadian Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CASC) which rose 70.34% to 10.05, Skyline Medical Inc (NASDAQ:SKLN) which was up 58.14% to settle at 1.3600 and Atossa Genetics Inc (NASDAQ:ATOS) which gained 47.10% to close at 0.7911.
The worst performers were Bellicum Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:BLCM) which was down 25.85% to 6.08 in late trade, Veritone Inc (NASDAQ:VERI) which lost 23.33% to settle at 17.75 and OpGen Inc (NASDAQ:OPGN) which was down 23.00% to 3.850 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1589 to 1501 and 126 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1612 fell and 915 advanced, while 138 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 7.71% to 13.65.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.73% or 9.80 to $1345.20 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.51% or 0.33 to hit $64.83 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.64% or 0.44 to trade at $68.96 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.08% to 1.2413, while USD/JPY rose 0.38% to 109.19.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.08% at 88.95.