Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Technology, Consumer Services and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.42%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.97%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 2.22%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 2.70% or 13.99 points to trade at 531.75 at the close. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) added 2.60% or 4.62 points to end at 182.23 and Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) was up 2.32% or 3.52 points to 154.99 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM), which lost 4.44% or 9.32 points to trade at 200.82 in late trade. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) declined 3.66% or 11.38 points to end at 299.50 and Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:V) shed 3.13% or 7.08 points to 219.01.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) which rose 4.56% to 305.84, NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG) which was up 4.23% to settle at 39.21 and Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) which gained 4.20% to close at 239.00.
The worst performers were Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NCLH) which was down 6.80% to 20.68 in late trade, Penn National Gaming Inc (NASDAQ:PENN) which lost 6.72% to settle at 39.02 and Caesars Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ:CZR) which was down 6.67% to 72.01 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Advent Technologies Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ADN) which rose 79.70% to 3.63, Moxian Inc (NASDAQ:MOXC) which was up 39.76% to settle at 2.32 and Mobiquity Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:MOBQ) which gained 29.63% to close at 2.10.
The worst performers were Guardforce AI Co Ltd (NASDAQ:GFAI) which was down 32.54% to 1.14 in late trade, GWG Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:GWGH) which lost 25.14% to settle at 2.62 and Integrated Media Technology Ltd (NASDAQ:IMTE) which was down 21.44% to 20.52 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2287 to 920 and 134 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2788 fell and 1111 advanced, while 217 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 5.09% to 22.10.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.12% or 2.40 to $1,925.10 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 4.94% or 5.04 to hit $96.92 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 4.61% or 4.92 to trade at $101.72 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.04% to 1.09, while USD/JPY rose 0.14% to 123.78.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.22% at 99.65.