Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Basic Materials, Industrials and Financials sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.29%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.38%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.52%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which rose 1.18% or 0.65 points to trade at 55.57 at the close. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) added 0.95% or 1.18 points to end at 125.40 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 0.75% or 0.47 points to 63.05 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which lost 2.31% or 2.24 points to trade at 94.86 in late trade. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) declined 1.41% or 2.52 points to end at 176.05 and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) shed 1.12% or 1.66 points to 146.54.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ) which rose 2.71% to 18.02, Tyson Foods Inc (NYSE:TSN) which was up 2.23% to settle at 64.26 and Whole Foods Market Inc (NASDAQ:WFM) which gained 1.70% to close at 34.12.
The worst performers were Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) which was down 8.32% to 64.61 in late trade, Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) which lost 8.05% to settle at 46.29 and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which was down 5.47% to 12.88 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were China Techfaith Wireless Communication Technology Ltd (NASDAQ:CNTF) which rose 43.81% to 2.7900, FunctionX Inc (NASDAQ:FNCX) which was up 27.94% to settle at 0.5600 and Neurocrine Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:NBIX) which gained 24.88% to close at 51.80.
The worst performers were Medical Tra (NASDAQ:MTBC) which was down 18.53% to 0.4400 in late trade, Spi Energy Co Ltd (NASDAQ:SPI) which lost 17.02% to settle at 0.78 and Delcath Systems Inc (NASDAQ:DCTH) which was down 14.44% to 0.0622 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2154 to 1048 and 41 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1728 fell and 746 advanced, while 113 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 3.45% to 15.59 a new 3-month high.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.90% or 11.50 to $1285.70 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.96% or 0.51 to hit $52.89 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 1.03% or 0.58 to trade at $55.65 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.60% to 1.0668, while USD/JPY fell 0.44% to 109.14.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.54% at 100.09.