Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Utilities sectors led shares higher.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.22%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.47%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.27%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 3.50% or 3.70 points to trade at 109.32 at the close. Meanwhile, Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) added 1.67% or 1.40 points to end at 85.37 and Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) was up 1.59% or 1.69 points to 108.16 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), which fell 3.10% or 4.86 points to trade at 152.09 at the close. Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) declined 1.39% or 0.46 points to end at 32.64 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was down 1.03% or 0.48 points to 45.91.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) which rose 17.34% to 409.28, Newfield Exploration Company (NYSE:NFX) which was up 6.89% to settle at 28.09 and Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) which gained 6.21% to close at 66.32.
The worst performers were CA Inc (NASDAQ:CA) which was down 5.48% to 29.93 in late trade, International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) which lost 3.10% to settle at 152.09 and Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) which was down 3.04% to 17.53 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Life Partners Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LPHI) which rose 38.89% to 0.250, BG Medicine Inc (NASDAQ:BGMD) which was up 29.88% to settle at 0.56 and Nxt-Id Inc (NASDAQ:NXTD) which gained 24.00% to close at 3.41.
The worst performers were Advaxis Inc (NASDAQ:ADXS) which was down 28.83% to 8.37 in late trade, Oculus Innovative Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:OCLS) which lost 27.46% to settle at 0.827 and CollabRx Inc (NASDAQ:CLRX) which was down 21.70% to 0.670 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1821 to 978 and 1 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1609 fell and 1160 advanced, while 7 ended unchanged.
Shares in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) fell to 52-week lows; down 3.04% or 0.55 to 17.53. Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) rose to all time highs; up 3.50% or 3.70 to 109.32. Shares in Oculus Innovative Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:OCLS) fell to 52-week lows; down 27.46% or 0.313 to 0.827.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.88% to 18.92.
Gold for February delivery was down 0.06% or 0.80 to $1293.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude Oil for delivery in March rose 2.29% or 1.06 to hit $47.53 a barrel, while the March Brent Oil contract rose 1.77% or 0.85 to trade at $48.84 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.48% to 1.1608, while USD/JPY fell 0.86% to 117.81.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.37% at 93.01.