Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Oil & Gas, Healthcare and Consumer Goods sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.45%, while the S&P 500 index fell 1.39%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 1.15%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which fell 0.11% or 0.20 points to trade at 185.68 at the close. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) fell 0.44% or 0.51 points to end at 115.08 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) was down 0.49% or 0.37 points to 75.12 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), which fell 2.50% or 1.92 points to trade at 74.92 at the close. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) declined 2.14% or 1.50 points to end at 68.48 and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) was down 2.11% or 2.46 points to 113.97.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) which rose 4.46% to 99.18, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which was up 3.17% to settle at 10.73 and Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ:YHOO) which gained 2.01% to close at 31.52.
The worst performers were Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) which was down 8.64% to 14.91 in late trade, Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL) which lost 6.43% to settle at 136.25 and Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA) which was down 4.51% to 41.29 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Vitae Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VTAE) which rose 89.03% to 14.99, Wafergen Bi (NASDAQ:WGBS) which was up 53.85% to settle at 1.80 and Akebia Ther (NASDAQ:AKBA) which gained 45.45% to close at 11.36.
The worst performers were Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:TTPH) which was down 78.81% to 9.49 in late trade, Pacific Sunwear of California Inc (NASDAQ:PSUN) which lost 35.00% to settle at 0.390 and Great Basin Scientific Inc (NASDAQ:GBSN) which was down 31.25% to 0.11 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1975 to 574 and 3 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1791 fell and 771 advanced, while 45 ended unchanged.
Shares in Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:TTPH) fell to 52-week lows; falling 78.81% or 35.29 to 9.49. Shares in Pacific Sunwear of California Inc (NASDAQ:PSUN) fell to all time lows; falling 35.00% or 0.210 to 0.390. Shares in Great Basin Scientific Inc (NASDAQ:GBSN) fell to all time lows; falling 31.25% or 0.05 to 0.11.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 5.38% to 26.24.
Gold for December delivery was down 1.28% or 14.40 to $1106.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 3.50% or 1.61 to hit $44.33 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 3.66% or 1.81 to trade at $47.71 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.03% to 1.1205, while USD/JPY rose 0.55% to 120.47.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.12% at 95.95.