Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.58% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.60%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.47%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT), which rose 3.00% or 2.08 points to trade at 71.45 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 1.87% or 2.95 points to end at 160.57 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was up 1.65% or 2.85 points to 175.56 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which lost 0.76% or 0.75 points to trade at 98.10 in late trade. E I du Pont de Nemours & Co (NYSE:DD) declined 0.40% or 0.31 points to end at 77.18 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) shed 0.33% or 0.40 points to 121.55.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Scripps Networks Interactive Inc (NASDAQ:SNI) which rose 7.18% to 81.50, Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ) which was up 5.81% to settle at 44.97 and First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) which gained 5.11% to close at 36.62.
The worst performers were Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which was down 5.23% to 14.13 in late trade, Tyson Foods Inc (NYSE:TSN) which lost 2.99% to settle at 63.31 and Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC) which was down 2.98% to 97.67 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were EyeGate Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:EYEG) which rose 126.99% to 3.700, Nova Lifestyle I (NASDAQ:NVFY) which was up 50.79% to settle at 1.900 and Bellerophon Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:BLPH) which gained 37.96% to close at 1.490.
The worst performers were Rentech Inc (NASDAQ:RTK) which was down 47.64% to 1.440 in late trade, Trevena Inc (NASDAQ:TRVN) which lost 40.11% to settle at 4.27 and Cidara Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CDTX) which was down 38.46% to 7.20 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2243 to 992 and 29 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1397 rose and 1114 declined, while 118 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.78% to 11.58.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.17% or 2.05 to $1237.05 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 1.13% or 0.61 to hit $54.39 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.93% or 0.52 to trade at $56.70 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.65% to 1.0543, while USD/JPY rose 0.50% to 113.66.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.48% at 101.40.