Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Telecoms and Technology sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Oil & Gas, Healthcare and Basic Materials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.13%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.12%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.22%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which rose 2.47% or 3.60 points to trade at 149.24 at the close. Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) added 2.31% or 1.27 points to end at 56.29 and Honeywell International Inc (NASDAQ:HON) was up 1.65% or 3.69 points to 227.77 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX), which lost 1.89% or 1.96 points to trade at 101.97 in late trade. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) declined 1.69% or 3.86 points to end at 224.34 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) shed 1.65% or 3.54 points to 211.65.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Jefferies Financial Group Inc (NYSE:JEF) which rose 5.40% to 33.65, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) which was up 4.03% to settle at 44.97 and Perrigo Company PLC (NYSE:PRGO) which gained 3.15% to close at 47.46.
The worst performers were Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) which was down 7.48% to 27.83 in late trade, Cimarex Energy Co (NYSE:XEC) which lost 6.17% to settle at 69.02 and Diamondback Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FANG) which was down 6.09% to 84.56 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were SGOCO Group Ltd (NASDAQ:SGOC) which rose 36.33% to 13.074, Datasea Inc (NASDAQ:DTSS) which was up 34.81% to settle at 3.950 and Bon Natural Life Ltd (NASDAQ:BON) which gained 33.26% to close at 11.86.
The worst performers were Allena Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALNA) which was down 35.47% to 0.8969 in late trade, Allied Healthcare Products Inc (NASDAQ:AHPI) which lost 31.13% to settle at 6.240 and Antelope Enterprise Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:AEHL) which was down 25.75% to 2.970 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1904 to 1253 and 119 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2493 fell and 997 advanced, while 129 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.61% to 16.33.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 1.03% or 18.65 to $1828.55 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 3.26% or 2.45 to hit $72.80 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 2.56% or 1.96 to trade at $74.53 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.54% to 1.1838, while USD/JPY fell 0.59% to 109.96.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.43% at 92.358.