Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Technology, Healthcare and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 3.95%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 3.90%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 4.24%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which rose 6.35% or 3.25 points to trade at 54.42 at the close. Visa Inc (NYSE:V) added 5.55% or 3.72 points to end at 70.69 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 5.67% or 5.88 points to 109.62 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), which added 1.95% or 0.74 points to trade at 38.73 in late trade. The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) added 2.30% or 2.25 points to end at 100.00 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) gained 2.51% or 1.81 points to 73.87.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Cameron International Corporation (NYSE:CAM) which rose 41.11% to 59.93, Mallinckrodt (NYSE:MNK) which was up 9.10% to settle at 85.82 and Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) which gained 8.57% to close at 97.08.
The worst performers were Transocean Ltd (NYSE:RIG) which was down 4.92% to 11.60 in late trade, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which lost 3.88% to settle at 7.92 and Schlumberger NV (NYSE:SLB) which was down 3.35% to 70.09 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Forward Industries Inc (NASDAQ:FORD) which rose 41.41% to 1.810, Looksmart Ltd (NASDAQ:LOOK) which was up 35.47% to settle at 1.010 and Professional Diversity Network Inc (NASDAQ:IPDN) which gained 31.67% to close at 0.79.
The worst performers were Great Basin Scientific Inc (NASDAQ:GBSN) which was down 39.09% to 0.34 in late trade, Republic Airways Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:RJET) which lost 36.72% to settle at 2.12 and Sky Solar Holdings Adr Rep 8 (NASDAQ:SKYS) which was down 26.47% to 5.00 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2060 to 408 and 2 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1956 rose and 618 declined, while 3 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 16.32% to 30.14.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was down 1.36% or 15.50 to $1122.80 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 1.16% or 0.46 to hit $38.85 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.90% or 0.39 to trade at $43.60 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 1.70% to 1.1323, while USD/JPY rose 0.90% to 119.92.
The US Dollar Index was up 1.47% at 95.29.