Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Health Care, Consumer Goods and Consumer Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.23%, while the S&P 500 index added 1.16%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 1.26%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD), which rose 3.43% or 3.46 points to trade at 104.41 at the close. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) added 2.65% or 2.29 points to end at 88.60 and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was up 2.21% or 2.28 points to 105.56 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which fell 0.65% or 0.30 points to trade at 46.19 at the close. International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) declined 0.65% or 1.02 points to end at 155.05 and Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) was down 0.08% or 0.09 points to 107.94.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Biogen Idec Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) which rose 5.56% to 353.27, Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALXN) which was up 5.50% to settle at 187.74 and DR Horton Inc (NYSE:DHI) which gained 5.14% to close at 25.35.
The worst performers were Helmerich & Payne Inc (NYSE:HP) which was down 6.60% to 59.46 in late trade, Newfield Exploration Company (NYSE:NFX) which lost 4.02% to settle at 23.61 and Twenty-First Century Fox A Inc (NASDAQ:FOXA) which was down 3.52% to 35.33 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were The Wet Seal Inc (NASDAQ:WTSL) which rose 140.00% to 0.132, Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ARNA) which was up 76.81% to settle at 5.87 and Netlist Inc (NASDAQ:NLST) which gained 27.00% to close at 1.070.
The worst performers were KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:KBIO) which was down 72.35% to 0.506 in late trade, MagneGas Corporation (NASDAQ:MNGA) which lost 26.61% to settle at 0.480 and Meru Networks Inc (NASDAQ:MERU) which was down 21.35% to 2.910 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2109 to 696; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1795 rose and 979 declined, while 4 ended unchanged.
Shares in Helmerich & Payne Inc (NYSE:HP) fell to 52 weeks lows; falling 6.60% or 4.20 to 59.46.
Shares in Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) rose to all time highs; rising 2.65% or 2.29 to 88.60.
Shares in KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:KBIO) fell to all time lows; falling 72.35% or 1.324 to 0.506.
Shares in MagneGas Corporation (NASDAQ:MNGA) fell to 52 weeks lows; falling 26.61% or 0.174 to 0.480.
Shares in Meru Networks Inc (NASDAQ:MERU) fell to 52 weeks lows; down 21.35% or 0.790 to 2.910.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 7.72% to 19.49.
Gold for February delivery was down 0.57% or 6.90 to $1212.50 a troy ounce.
Elsewhere in commodities trading, crude oil for delivery in February rose 1.83% or 0.88 to hit $48.80 a barrel, while the February brent oil contract unchanged 0.00% or 0.00 to trade at $51.10 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.44% to 1.1838, while USD/JPY rose 0.59% to 119.14.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.38% at 92.22.