Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Industrials and Financials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.39% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.64%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.52%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which rose 8.80% or 10.32 points to trade at 127.61 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) added 5.58% or 9.21 points to end at 174.28 and Raytheon Technologies Corp (NYSE:RTX) was up 4.38% or 2.52 points to 60.03 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT), which lost 1.39% or 1.83 points to trade at 129.81 in late trade. Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) declined 0.71% or 0.34 points to end at 47.33 and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) shed 0.64% or 0.37 points to 57.54.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Assurant Inc (NYSE:AIZ) which rose 14.15% to 122.31, Arconic Inc (NYSE:ARNC) which was up 12.49% to settle at 19.64 and Capri Holdings Ltd (NYSE:CPRI) which gained 11.40% to close at 15.64.
The worst performers were Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) which was down 10.93% to 235.13 in late trade, Microchip Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MCHP) which lost 8.22% to settle at 98.50 and Fox Corp Class A (NASDAQ:FOXA) which was down 7.29% to 24.73 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Biofrontera AG ADR (NASDAQ:BFRA) which rose 378.57% to 26.80, Myos Rens Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MYOS) which was up 48.39% to settle at 1.840 and Willis Lease Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:WLFC) which gained 37.41% to close at 28.10.
The worst performers were Puhui Wealth Investment Management Co Ltd (NASDAQ:PHCF) which was down 25.74% to 2.770 in late trade, EverQuote Inc Class A (NASDAQ:EVER) which lost 22.97% to settle at 41.69 and SINTX Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:SINT) which was down 22.39% to 2.530 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2127 to 905 and 90 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1866 rose and 904 declined, while 81 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.24% to 22.99 a new 3-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for October delivery was up 1.59% or 31.90 to $2040.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 1.20% or 0.50 to hit $42.20 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.20% or 0.09 to trade at $45.28 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.05% to 1.1866, while USD/JPY rose 0.02% to 105.59.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.60% at 92.820.