Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Financials and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.24% to hit a new 6-month high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.08%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.16%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which rose 2.59% or 4.22 points to trade at 166.98 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 2.63% or 3.43 points to end at 133.93 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) was up 2.28% or 1.45 points to 65.02 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), which lost 4.79% or 2.23 points to trade at 44.37 in late trade. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) declined 2.08% or 1.73 points to end at 81.55 and Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) shed 1.59% or 2.11 points to 130.57.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) which rose 8.16% to 56.84, Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) which was up 4.90% to settle at 6.42 and Textron Inc (NYSE:TXT) which gained 4.89% to close at 39.91.
The worst performers were Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) which was down 4.79% to 44.37 in late trade, NiSource Inc (NYSE:NI) which lost 3.79% to settle at 23.07 and TE Connectivity Ltd (NYSE:TEL) which was down 3.53% to 61.44 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were KBS Fashion Group Ltd (NASDAQ:KBSF) which rose 56.83% to 0.5489, Hansen Medical Inc (NASDAQ:HNSN) which was up 39.86% to settle at 4.000 and Prima BioMed Ltd (NASDAQ:PBMD) which gained 24.32% to close at 1.1500.
The worst performers were RIT Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:RITT) which was down 46.69% to 0.370 in late trade, Argos Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ARGS) which lost 24.70% to settle at 8.05 and Draftday Fantasy Sports Inc (NASDAQ:DDAY) which was down 23.18% to 0.3380 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1865 to 1459 and 33 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1406 rose and 1149 declined, while 72 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.45% to 13.30.
In commodities trading, Gold for June delivery was down 0.61% or 7.60 to $1246.70 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 3.16% or 1.34 to hit $43.81 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 3.18% or 1.40 to trade at $45.43 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.57% to 1.1294, while USD/JPY rose 0.55% to 109.80.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.51% at 94.55.