Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Technology, Financials and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.54%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.49%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.86%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which rose 0.93% or 1.13 points to trade at 122.71 at the close. Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) added 0.59% or 0.48 points to end at 82.24 and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) was up 0.56% or 0.28 points to 50.70 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which lost 2.64% or 2.07 points to trade at 76.28 in late trade. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) declined 1.80% or 2.46 points to end at 133.83 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) shed 1.74% or 3.26 points to 183.92.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Acuity Brands Inc (NYSE:AYI) which rose 12.75% to 132.05, Scana Corporation (NYSE:SCG) which was up 4.05% to settle at 40.36 and Albemarle Corp (NYSE:ALB) which gained 3.36% to close at 96.62.
The worst performers were Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) which was down 5.51% to 51.48 in late trade, Lam Research Corp (NASDAQ:LRCX) which lost 3.35% to settle at 167.25 and Qorvo Inc (NASDAQ:QRVO) which was down 3.32% to 77.44 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Anavex Life Sciences Corp (NASDAQ:AVXL) which rose 43.61% to 3.820, Micronet Enertec Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:MICT) which was up 31.71% to settle at 1.620 and Juniper Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:JNP) which gained 31.61% to close at 11.450.
The worst performers were Black Box Corporation (NASDAQ:BBOX) which was down 62.96% to 0.75 in late trade, SAExploration Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:SAEX) which lost 25.22% to settle at 1.720 and Tintri Inc (NASDAQ:TNTR) which was down 24.25% to 0.21 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 0 to 0; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 0 fell and 0 advanced on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was unchanged 0.00% to 16.14.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.37% or 4.60 to $1258.10 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.26% or 0.19 to hit $74.33 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.53% or 0.41 to trade at $78.17 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.02% to 1.1656, while USD/JPY fell 0.07% to 110.49.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.14% at 94.19.