Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Technology, Consumer Goods and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.25%, while the S&P 500 index lost 2.31%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 3.62%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which rose 2.58% or 3.93 points to trade at 156.28 at the close. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) added 2.02% or 0.79 points to end at 39.67 and Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) was up 1.31% or 0.85 points to 65.81 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:V), which lost 4.01% or 10.62 points to trade at 254.17 in late trade. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) declined 3.79% or 1.25 points to end at 31.70 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shed 3.59% or 15.95 points to 428.90.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH) which rose 12.80% to 116.91, AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) which was up 5.22% to settle at 19.16 and Nextera Energy Inc (NYSE:NEE) which gained 4.58% to close at 75.41.
The worst performers were Lamb Weston Holdings Inc (NYSE:LW) which was down 28.24% to 56.42 in late trade, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) which lost 12.33% to settle at 215.99 and Super Micro Computer Inc (NASDAQ:SMCI) which was down 9.15% to 711.56 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Nuzee Inc (NASDAQ:NUZE) which rose 219.42% to 3.29, Dermata Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:DRMA) which was up 105.38% to settle at 2.67 and Pieris Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:PIRS) which gained 88.60% to close at 15.05.
The worst performers were Next Technology Holding Inc (NASDAQ:NXTT) which was down 55.84% to 2.57 in late trade, Nuwellis Inc (NASDAQ:NUWE) which lost 40.00% to settle at 2.49 and Vintage Wine Estates Inc (NASDAQ:VWE) which was down 36.87% to 0.07 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2317 to 526 and 59 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2487 fell and 845 advanced, while 126 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 22.55% to 18.04 a new 3-month high.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.35% or 8.50 to $2,398.80 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.64% or 0.49 to hit $77.45 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.58% or 0.47 to trade at $81.48 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.11% to 1.08, while USD/JPY fell 1.02% to 153.99.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.07% at 104.11.