Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Industrials and Utilities sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Healthcare, Technology and Consumer Services sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.62% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.25%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.16%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 3.54% or 7.58 points to trade at 221.65 at the close. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) added 2.66% or 1.29 points to end at 49.72 and Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) was up 1.79% or 1.13 points to 64.25 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:V), which lost 1.27% or 3.03 points to trade at 235.04 in late trade. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) declined 0.99% or 4.09 points to end at 407.69 and Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) shed 0.59% or 1.02 points to 171.25.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were NortonLifeLock Inc (NASDAQ:NLOK) which rose 8.70% to 26.25, United Rentals Inc (NYSE:URI) which was up 4.98% to settle at 357.49 and Nucor Corp (NYSE:NUE) which gained 3.91% to close at 122.72.
The worst performers were Perrigo Company PLC (NYSE:PRGO) which was down 12.63% to 42.96 in late trade, Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) which lost 4.27% to settle at 14.35 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) which was down 3.90% to 46.31 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Rani Therapeutics Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:RANI) which rose 48.70% to 20.52, Dyadic International Inc (NASDAQ:DYAI) which was up 46.52% to settle at 5.260 and CohBar Inc (NASDAQ:CWBR) which gained 26.36% to close at 1.6300.
The worst performers were HyreCar Inc (NASDAQ:HYRE) which was down 48.54% to 9.84 in late trade, Appharvest Inc (NASDAQ:APPH) which lost 29.07% to settle at 8.49 and Biodesix Inc (NASDAQ:BDSX) which was down 25.76% to 7.30 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2117 to 1103 and 144 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1773 rose and 1729 declined, while 164 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.35% to 16.06 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 1.27% or 21.95 to $1753.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 1.52% or 1.04 to hit $69.33 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 1.32% or 0.93 to trade at $71.56 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.19% to 1.1740, while USD/JPY fell 0.12% to 110.43.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.16% at 92.903.