Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Technology, Industrials and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.40% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.82%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.95%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which rose 2.11% or 8.56 points to trade at 414.05 at the close. Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) added 1.82% or 6.49 points to end at 362.75 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was up 1.72% or 8.80 points to 519.47 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN), which lost 6.39% or 20.20 points to trade at 295.87 in late trade. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) declined 1.64% or 0.68 points to end at 40.42 and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) shed 1.30% or 0.30 points to 22.81.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH) which rose 16.91% to 117.51, Emerson Electric Company (NYSE:EMR) which was up 10.45% to settle at 104.11 and Generac Holdings Inc (NYSE:GNRC) which gained 7.20% to close at 125.80.
The worst performers were VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) which was down 9.71% to 15.30 in late trade, Paramount Global Class B (NASDAQ:PARA) which lost 8.15% to settle at 12.85 and Fox Corp Class A (NASDAQ:FOXA) which was down 6.80% to 29.47 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were MicroCloud Hologram Inc (NASDAQ:HOLO) which rose 1,000.00% to 18.00, SMX Security Matters Ord Shs Class A (NASDAQ:SMX) which was up 72.34% to settle at 0.40 and Hitek Global (NASDAQ:HKIT) which gained 60.59% to close at 1.14.
The worst performers were NanoString Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:NSTG) which was down 41.98% to 0.05 in late trade, Phoenix Biotech Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:PBAX) which lost 41.61% to settle at 7.03 and Sunworks Inc (NASDAQ:SUNW) which was down 35.63% to 0.06 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1440 to 1416 and 76 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2091 fell and 1350 advanced, while 105 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.76% to 12.83.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.09% or 1.75 to $2,049.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 1.05% or 0.77 to hit $74.08 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.99% or 0.78 to trade at $79.37 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.18% to 1.08, while USD/JPY rose 0.17% to 148.19.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.15% at 103.92.