Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Technology and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.23%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.36%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.35%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 1.99% or 10.05 points to trade at 515.29 at the close. Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) added 1.74% or 0.73 points to end at 42.69 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) was up 1.61% or 2.70 points to 169.90 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which lost 1.90% or 0.73 points to trade at 37.78 in late trade. Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) declined 1.32% or 1.88 points to end at 140.78 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) shed 1.16% or 3.44 points to 293.76.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) which rose 3.77% to 481.87, L3Harris Technologies Inc (NYSE:LHX) which was up 3.74% to settle at 239.60 and WW Grainger Inc (NYSE:GWW) which gained 3.28% to close at 470.12.
The worst performers were Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NCLH) which was down 9.55% to 11.27 in late trade, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) which lost 7.19% to settle at 33.69 and Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) which was down 6.82% to 8.74 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Inspira Technologies Oxy BHN Ltd (NASDAQ:IINN) which rose 76.61% to 2.19, Waitr Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:WTRH) which was up 73.24% to settle at 0.27 and Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:TTNP) which gained 48.76% to close at 0.90.
The worst performers were Kornit Digital Ltd (NASDAQ:KRNT) which was down 25.67% to 23.46 in late trade, Applied Molecular Transport Inc (NASDAQ:AMTI) which lost 25.64% to settle at 2.32 and Nuwellis Inc (NASDAQ:NUWE) which was down 23.33% to 0.69 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1957 to 1211 and 142 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2165 fell and 1614 advanced, while 237 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.94% to 26.73.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was down 1.48% or 26.15 to $1,737.75 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 1.07% or 1.06 to hit $98.44 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 2.36% or 2.43 to trade at $100.34 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.80% to 1.02, while USD/JPY fell 0.00% to 135.87.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.52% at 106.88.