U.S. shares mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.27%

© Reuters U.S. shares mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.27%

Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Telecoms, Healthcare and Technology sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Industrials sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.27%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.07%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.03%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), which rose 2.02% or 4.91 points to trade at 247.74 at the close. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) added 1.47% or 3.78 points to end at 260.26 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was up 1.43% or 7.27 points to 515.71 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which lost 2.11% or 3.96 points to trade at 183.48 in late trade. Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) declined 1.97% or 2.96 points to end at 146.98 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) shed 1.91% or 2.72 points to 139.47.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS) which rose 6.35% to 74.72, ABIOMED Inc (NASDAQ:ABMD) which was up 2.97% to settle at 256.49 and Monster Beverage Corp (NASDAQ:MNST) which gained 2.80% to close at 93.35.

The worst performers were Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) which was down 14.13% to 8.87 in late trade, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) which lost 10.26% to settle at 36.02 and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NCLH) which was down 9.33% to 11.57 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Allena Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALNA) which rose 114.29% to 0.26, COMSovereign Holding Corp (NASDAQ:COMS) which was up 60.36% to settle at 0.25 and Brickell Biotech Inc (NASDAQ:BBI) which gained 47.64% to close at 0.17.

The worst performers were Agile Thrpe (NASDAQ:AGRX) which was down 36.10% to 1.54 in late trade, Exicure Inc (NASDAQ:XCUR) which lost 27.81% to settle at 0.09 and Aileron Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ALRN) which was down 27.14% to 0.30 at the close.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2061 to 1058 and 125 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2368 fell and 1358 advanced, while 178 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.71% to 28.16.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.06% or 1.05 to $1,820.15 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 1.98% or 2.21 to hit $109.55 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 1.42% or 1.62 to trade at $112.18 a barrel.

EUR/USD was down 0.73% to 1.04, while USD/JPY rose 0.39% to 136.65.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.57% at 104.86.