Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Goods and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.17%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.20%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.18%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), which rose 1.24% or 0.98 points to trade at 80.08 at the close. American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) added 1.21% or 0.96 points to end at 80.32 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was up 1.00% or 0.32 points to 31.95 in late trade.
Biggest losers included UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which lost 1.49% or 1.81 points to trade at 119.74 in late trade. Visa Inc (NYSE:V) declined 0.38% or 0.26 points to end at 68.75 and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) shed 0.34% or 0.23 points to 68.14.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were TripAdvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP) which rose 14.65% to 87.65, NiSource Inc (NYSE:NI) which was up 3.71% to settle at 48.40 and Harley-Davidson Inc (NYSE:HOG) which gained 3.56% to close at 56.66.
The worst performers were Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) which was down 3.51% to 12.09 in late trade, FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) which lost 2.96% to settle at 176.73 and Navient Cor (NASDAQ:NAVI) which was down 2.61% to 18.64 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SGYP) which rose 67.72% to 7.782, Joes Jeans Inc (NASDAQ:JOEZ) which was up 48.69% to settle at 0.233 and Axion Power International Inc (NASDAQ:AXPW) which gained 24.14% to close at 0.180.
The worst performers were Delta Technology Holding Ltd (NASDAQ:DELT) which was down 36.88% to 5.75 in late trade, Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:RCPI) which lost 30.04% to settle at 1.980 and Davidstea Inc (NASDAQ:DTEA) which was down 24.55% to 22.00 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1744 to 1401 and 3 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1458 fell and 1343 advanced, 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 2.16% to 14.49.
In commodities trading, Gold for August delivery was up 0.40% or 4.70 to $1185.60 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 0.55% or 0.33 to hit $60.12 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 0.02% or 0.01 to trade at $63.69 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.78% to 1.1335, while USD/JPY rose 0.07% to 123.46.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.77% at 94.48.