Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Consumer Services, Technology and Financials sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.19%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.63%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 1.21%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 1.98% or 10.09 points to trade at 520.82 at the close. Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) added 1.79% or 2.64 points to end at 149.87 and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was up 1.04% or 1.85 points to 179.59 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD), which lost 2.91% or 9.25 points to trade at 308.46 in late trade. Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) declined 2.87% or 6.35 points to end at 214.94 and Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:V) shed 1.83% or 4.17 points to 223.95.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) which rose 4.76% to 87.44, Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) which was up 3.95% to settle at 100.50 and Paychex Inc (NASDAQ:PAYX) which gained 3.29% to close at 136.89.
The worst performers were PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH) which was down 6.54% to 82.69 in late trade, Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY) which lost 5.85% to settle at 134.56 and Mohawk Industries Inc (NYSE:MHK) which was down 5.69% to 130.93 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Direct Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:DRCT) which rose 60.47% to 4.14, Hillstream Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:HILS) which was up 39.04% to settle at 2.03 and Adagio Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ADGI) which gained 30.39% to close at 5.02.
The worst performers were Akebia Ther (NASDAQ:AKBA) which was down 66.02% to 0.83 in late trade, Revelation Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:REVB) which lost 38.32% to settle at 1.32 and Calithera Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:CALA) which was down 34.95% to 0.39 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1904 to 1307 and 131 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2600 fell and 1199 advanced, while 192 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 2.28% to 19.33.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 1.11% or 21.20 to $1,933.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 3.05% or 3.18 to hit $107.42 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 2.96% or 3.19 to trade at $110.90 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.67% to 1.12, while USD/JPY fell 0.83% to 121.82.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.56% at 97.89.