Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Consumer Goods, Telecoms and Technology sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.18%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.18%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.26%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), which rose 2.22% or 2.54 points to trade at 117.04 at the close. General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) added 1.76% or 0.24 points to end at 13.88 and DowDuPont Inc (NYSE:DWDP) was up 1.57% or 1.04 points to 67.43 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which lost 2.27% or 3.97 points to trade at 171.27 in late trade. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) declined 1.75% or 3.96 points to end at 222.82 and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shed 1.62% or 1.27 points to 77.04.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) which rose 7.62% to 15.40, Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) which was up 6.95% to settle at 16.32 and Newfield Exploration Company (NYSE:NFX) which gained 5.98% to close at 24.80.
The worst performers were General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS) which was down 8.85% to 45.51 in late trade, Southwest Airlines Company (NYSE:LUV) which lost 4.79% to settle at 57.78 and JM Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) which was down 4.20% to 120.16 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were EV Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ:EVEP) which rose 73.22% to 0.230, China Auto Logistics Inc (NASDAQ:CALI) which was up 43.40% to settle at 5.320 and VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ:VVPR) which gained 16.86% to close at 2.01.
The worst performers were Precipio Inc (NASDAQ:PRPO) which was down 32.23% to 0.6100 in late trade, Check Cap Ltd (NASDAQ:CHEK) which lost 24.46% to settle at 0.490 and Alder Bioph (NASDAQ:ALDR) which was down 15.07% to 11.55 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1780 to 1300 and 121 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1500 rose and 1013 declined, while 137 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.70% to 17.89.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 1.59% or 20.90 to $1332.80 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 3.12% or 1.98 to hit $65.52 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 3.52% or 2.37 to trade at $69.79 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.84% to 1.2344, while USD/JPY fell 0.55% to 105.95.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.84% at 89.25.