Investing.com -- U.S. stocks ticked up on Wednesday, remaining stuck in tight, range-bound trade, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average avoided its first eight-day losing streak in five years.
The Dow gained 41.23 or 0.23% to 18,355.00, driven by a bevy of financial stocks as a key Federal Reserve policymaker sent indications that he could support a rate hike by the U.S. central bank at some point before the end of the year. Previously, the Dow had fallen more than 200 points from its level on July 22 when it reached an all-time record closing level of 18,570.85.
The NASDAQ Composite index, meanwhile, added 22.01 or 0.43% to 5,159.74, while the S&P 500 Composite index ticked up 6.76 or 0.31% to 2,163.79, to remain near record-highs. On the S&P 500, six of 10 sectors closed in the green, as stocks in the Energy and Financial sectors led. Stocks in the Utilities and Consumer Goods industries lagged, each falling by more than 0.30%. In Wednesday's session, equities on Wall Street received a boost from a rebound in slumping oil prices. WTI crude closed at $40.80, up 3.26% for the session, one day after closing below $40 for the first time since mid-April. It came amid an unexpected draw in gasoline inventories last week, which declined by 3.3 million barrels for the week ending on July 29.
The top performer on the Dow was JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), which gained 1.01 or 1.59% to 64.66. JP Morgan finished just ahead of Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which added 2.28 or 1.46% to 2,163.79. Shares in Goldman Sachs rallied on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve ordered the Wall Street bank to pay a $36.3 million fine civil penalty to settle charges over an unauthorized leak of confidential information. The Fed is also seeking to ban a managing director from the firm, who worked alongside a Goldman employee that reportedly received the secrets from a former colleague at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The worst performer was Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE), which fell 1.10 or 3.02% to 35.29. Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) shares continue to tumble one day after the company's branded, patent-protected drugs failed to meet analysts' sales forecasts over the previous quarter.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN), which surged 4.13 or 6.67% to 66.08. On Tuesday, the healthcare technology company increased net profits by 44% on an annual basis while slashing general and administrative costs by approximately one-third from the same quarter a year earlier. The worst performer was Verisk Analytics Inc (NASDAQ:VRSK), which fell 4.29 or 5.12% to 79.43, after missing analysts' second quarter EPS forecasts by three cents. Although the data analytics and risk assessment firm increased earnings due to strong operations and a lower interest charge, the gains were offset by rising depreciation and amortization expenses.
Shares in Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) fell by 0.22 or 0.30% to close at 72.91. Wal-Mart shares moved lower after reports from Dow Jones surfaced that the retail giant is in talks to buy online retailer Jet.com in an effort to challenge main rival Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) in the e-commerce space.
On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing issues outnumbered declining ones by a 2,011-964 margin.