Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Financials and Telecoms sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.40% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.86%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.67%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which rose 3.18% or 11.46 points to trade at 371.56 at the close. DowDuPont Inc (NYSE:DWDP) added 3.17% or 2.15 points to end at 70.04 and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) was up 2.34% or 2.52 points to 110.36 in late trade.
Biggest losers included General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which lost 1.16% or 0.16 points to trade at 13.64 in late trade. The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) declined 0.31% or 0.40 points to end at 128.77 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) shed 0.16% or 0.06 points to 36.38.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Signet Jewelers Ltd (NYSE:SIG) which rose 18.39% to 52.27, Equifax Inc (NYSE:EFX) which was up 6.13% to settle at 124.72 and DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ:DISH) which gained 5.81% to close at 31.12.
The worst performers were Brown Forman (NYSE:BFb) which was down 6.09% to 52.47 in late trade, PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) which lost 4.50% to settle at 25.67 and Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) which was down 4.00% to 52.09 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Axovant Sciences Ltd (NASDAQ:AXON) which rose 160.00% to 4.55, Vascular Biogenics Ltd (NASDAQ:VBLT) which was up 39.53% to settle at 3.000 and Ascent Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASCMA) which gained 28.32% to close at 2.22.
The worst performers were Blink Charging Co (NASDAQ:BLNK) which was down 17.99% to 5.3800 in late trade, ENDRA Life Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:NDRA) which lost 14.93% to settle at 1.710 and Oxbridge Re Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:OXBR) which was down 3.15% to 1.31 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1895 to 1150 and 134 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1522 rose and 1046 declined, while 122 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.05% to 11.65 a new 3-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.10% or 1.30 to $1300.90 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 0.75% or 0.49 to hit $65.03 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 0.53% or 0.40 to trade at $75.78 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.50% to 1.1772, while USD/JPY rose 0.38% to 110.20.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.25% at 93.62.