Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Telecoms and Technology sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Utilities, Basic Materials and Healthcare sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.22%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.04%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.27%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM), which rose 1.60% or 3.35 points to trade at 212.17 at the close. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) added 1.54% or 0.44 points to end at 29.08 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) was up 0.95% or 1.59 points to 169.78 in late trade.
Biggest losers included The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV), which lost 2.45% or 4.22 points to trade at 168.37 in late trade. Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) declined 2.30% or 7.23 points to end at 306.51 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shed 1.68% or 8.11 points to 474.45.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) which rose 8.84% to 17.30, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NCLH) which was up 7.55% to settle at 21.07 and Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY) which gained 4.27% to close at 33.20.
The worst performers were General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS) which was down 5.17% to 76.72 in late trade, Albemarle Corp (NYSE:ALB) which lost 4.43% to settle at 217.00 and Hershey Co (NYSE:HSY) which was down 3.97% to 249.59 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Minerva Neurosciences Inc (NASDAQ:NERV) which rose 69.27% to 10.19, Knightscope Inc (NASDAQ:KSCP) which was up 52.15% to settle at 0.70 and Centogene B V (NASDAQ:CNTG) which gained 33.90% to close at 1.58.
The worst performers were American Rebel Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AREB) which was down 35.45% to 3.55 in late trade, Powerbridge Technologies Co Ltd (NASDAQ:PBTS) which lost 33.77% to settle at 1.00 and Trxade Group Inc (NASDAQ:MEDS) which was down 27.56% to 10.75 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1583 to 1375 and 110 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1830 rose and 1685 declined, while 164 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.26% to 13.43.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.28% or 5.35 to $1,918.45 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 2.13% or 1.44 to hit $69.14 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 1.77% or 1.28 to trade at $73.79 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.41% to 1.09, while USD/JPY rose 0.28% to 144.48.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.50% at 102.64.