Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Goods and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.09% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.12%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.04%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which rose 1.19% or 0.61 points to trade at 52.08 at the close. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) added 0.98% or 1.23 points to end at 126.74 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was up 0.93% or 1.85 points to 200.48 in late trade.
Biggest losers included General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which lost 1.29% or 0.32 points to trade at 24.48 in late trade. JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) declined 1.02% or 0.99 points to end at 96.36 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) shed 0.67% or 1.03 points to 153.45.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Mylan Inc (NASDAQ:MYL) which rose 16.20% to 37.80, Acuity Brands Inc (NYSE:AYI) which was up 5.11% to settle at 178.33 and TripAdvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP) which gained 3.73% to close at 43.40.
The worst performers were Republic Services Inc (NYSE:RSG) which was down 4.87% to 63.31 in late trade, Advance Auto Parts Inc (NYSE:AAP) which lost 4.09% to settle at 94.93 and Waste Management Inc (NYSE:WM) which was down 3.72% to 76.33 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Real Goods Solar Inc (NASDAQ:RGSE) which rose 189.02% to 2.3700, Yulong Eco-Materials Ltd (NASDAQ:YECO) which was up 97.44% to settle at 0.770 and Streamline Health Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:STRM) which gained 75.82% to close at 2.690.
The worst performers were root9B Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:RTNB) which was down 39.88% to 1.2054 in late trade, Celsion Corp (NASDAQ:CLSN) which lost 37.29% to settle at 3.800 and Net Element Inc (NASDAQ:NETE) which was down 28.40% to 0.6300 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1572 to 1471 and 175 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1295 fell and 1190 advanced, while 156 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 2.00% to 9.70.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.03% or 0.43 to $1277.47 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in November fell 1.07% or 0.54 to hit $49.88 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract fell 0.45% or 0.25 to trade at $55.75 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.18% to 1.1765, while USD/JPY fell 0.10% to 112.74.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.15% at 93.28.