Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Industrials sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.15%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.13%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.15%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 1.95% or 9.36 points to trade at 489.68 at the close. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) added 1.58% or 2.73 points to end at 175.74 and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was up 1.56% or 2.13 points to 138.50 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW), which lost 4.75% or 2.61 points to trade at 52.34 in late trade. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) declined 4.35% or 8.54 points to end at 187.83 and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) shed 4.35% or 6.72 points to 147.87.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc (NYSE:DVA) which rose 5.96% to 80.58, Clorox Co (NYSE:CLX) which was up 5.19% to settle at 132.14 and Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) which gained 4.68% to close at 136.07.
The worst performers were Altria Group (NYSE:MO) which was down 9.19% to 41.50 in late trade, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which lost 7.96% to settle at 31.32 and Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) which was down 7.23% to 23.10 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Ocean Bio-Chem Inc (NASDAQ:OBCI) which rose 117.23% to 12.86, Phoenix Motor Inc (NASDAQ:PEV) which was up 70.47% to settle at 5.83 and Visionary Education Technology Holdings Group Inc (NASDAQ:VEDU) which gained 47.86% to close at 1.73.
The worst performers were Athira Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:ATHA) which was down 66.27% to 2.85 in late trade, Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:NEPT) which lost 40.69% to settle at 1.72 and Electric Last Mile Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:ELMS) which was down 34.97% to 0.19 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1743 to 1444 and 132 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1928 fell and 1880 advanced, while 223 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.11% to 28.95.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.06% or 1.15 to $1,839.95 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 3.93% or 4.30 to hit $105.22 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 3.38% or 3.88 to trade at $110.77 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.40% to 1.06, while USD/JPY fell 0.25% to 136.26.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.22% at 103.98.