Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Healthcare and Consumer Goods sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.31% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.19%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.08%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 2.83% or 8.17 points to trade at 296.41 at the close. Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:V) added 1.91% or 3.75 points to end at 199.80 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 1.79% or 1.61 points to 91.54 in late trade.
Biggest losers included JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), which lost 1.50% or 2.08 points to trade at 136.72 in late trade. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) declined 0.88% or 1.59 points to end at 179.78 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) shed 0.82% or 0.49 points to 58.94.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Coty Inc (NYSE:COTY) which rose 6.26% to 11.37, Nielsen Holdings PLC (NYSE:NLSN) which was up 5.34% to settle at 21.51 and Mylan NV (NASDAQ:MYL) which gained 4.01% to close at 22.05.
The worst performers were Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) which was down 15.99% to 23.49 in late trade, Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) which lost 6.59% to settle at 117.00 and Align Technology Inc (NASDAQ:ALGN) which was down 4.70% to 274.10 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Reebonz Holding Ltd (NASDAQ:RBZ) which rose 67.27% to 1.84, Cemtrex Inc (NASDAQ:CETX) which was up 54.24% to settle at 1.8200 and OrganiGram Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:OGI) which gained 45.37% to close at 3.1400.
The worst performers were Estre USA Inc Class A (NASDAQ:ESTR) which was down 46.72% to 0.32 in late trade, Inpixon (NASDAQ:INPX) which lost 28.32% to settle at 4.0500 and Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) which was down 15.99% to 23.49 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1621 to 1177 and 113 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1461 rose and 1174 declined, while 89 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.24% to 12.42.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.77% or 11.95 to $1556.55 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.24% or 0.14 to hit $58.09 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.08% or 0.05 to trade at $64.25 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.02% to 1.1152, while USD/JPY fell 0.00% to 109.88.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.15% at 96.947.