Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Technology and Financials sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Telecoms, Oil & Gas and Industrials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.13%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.03%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.11%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), which rose 1.00% or 1.19 points to trade at 119.76 at the close. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) added 0.94% or 2.07 points to end at 222.77 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was up 0.82% or 1.13 points to 138.52 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW), which lost 1.02% or 0.49 points to trade at 47.51 in late trade. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) declined 0.83% or 1.10 points to end at 131.07 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shed 0.82% or 1.91 points to 230.61.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) which rose 3.53% to 157.98, Comerica Inc (NYSE:CMA) which was up 2.20% to settle at 66.92 and SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB) which gained 2.07% to close at 217.85.
The worst performers were FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) which was down 12.92% to 150.91 in late trade, Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALXN) which lost 4.50% to settle at 102.98 and Noble Energy Inc (NYSE:NBL) which was down 3.39% to 24.24 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were SPI Energy Co Ltd (NASDAQ:SPI) which rose 66.37% to 3.76, Guardion Health Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:GHSI) which was up 36.14% to settle at 0.6400 and Huttig Building (NASDAQ:HBP) which gained 32.63% to close at 2.520.
The worst performers were Silver Run Acquisition Corporation II (NASDAQ:AMR) which was down 30.13% to 0.08 in late trade, Wins Finance Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:WINS) which lost 25.00% to settle at 15.00 and Zynerba Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ZYNE) which was down 21.77% to 8.84 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1643 to 1289 and 97 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1609 fell and 1048 advanced, while 94 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.39% to 13.95.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.79% or 11.90 to $1501.50 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in November fell 1.54% or 0.91 to hit $58.19 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 0.08% or 0.05 to trade at $63.68 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.04% to 1.1033, while USD/JPY fell 0.01% to 108.42.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.31% at 98.127.