Investing.com – United States equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Dow Jones Basic Materials, Dow Jones Consumer Services and Dow Jones Financials sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.06%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.58%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.48%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which rose 0.72% or 0.45 points to trade at 62.64 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 0.25% or 0.26 points to end at 103.33 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) was up 0.12% or 0.04 points to 32.48 in late trade.
Biggest losers included JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), which lost 3.45% or 2.03 points to trade at 56.81 in late trade. Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) declined 3.02% or 2.70 points to end at 86.61 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) shed 2.54% or 4.70 points to 180.23.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) which rose 10.50% to 36.21, Newfield Exploration Company (NYSE:NFX) which was up 5.63% to settle at 24.19 and ONEOK Inc (NYSE:OKE) which gained 5.20% to close at 42.32.
The worst performers were Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which was down 10.93% to 18.74 in late trade, Viacom B Inc (NASDAQ:VIAB) which lost 6.65% to settle at 67.80 and Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) which was down 5.38% to 14.95 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were ZIOPHARM Oncology Inc (NASDAQ:ZIOP) which rose 54.53% to 8.87, Smith Micro Software Inc (NASDAQ:SMSI) which was up 38.89% to settle at 1.750 and Fibrocell S (NASDAQ:FCSC) which gained 37.46% to close at 4.00.
The worst performers were Flamel Technologies SA (NASDAQ:FLML) which was down 37.74% to 11.50 in late trade, Westmoreland Coal Company (NASDAQ:WLBPZ) which lost 32.17% to settle at 51.360 and Datawatch Corporation (NASDAQ:DWCH) which was down 24.41% to 5.76 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1757 to 1048; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1785 fell and 998 advanced, while 7 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 4.91% to 21.57.
In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was down 0.36% or 4.50 to $1229.90 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude Oil for delivery in February rose 5.84% or 2.68 to hit $48.57 a barrel, while the March Brent Oil contract rose 4.27% or 2.04 to trade at $49.86 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.10% to 1.1785, while USD/JPY fell 0.51% to 117.33.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.14% at 92.31.