Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Telecoms and Consumer Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.08%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.13%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.46%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which rose 2.98% or 4.98 points to trade at 172.03 at the close. Meanwhile, Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) added 2.20% or 1.50 points to end at 69.69 and DowDuPont Inc (NYSE:DWDP) was up 1.94% or 1.04 points to 54.52 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which fell 2.26% or 5.63 points to trade at 243.49 at the close. The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) declined 1.99% or 2.38 points to end at 117.37 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was down 1.07% or 0.82 points to 75.59.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Arconic Inc (NYSE:ARNC) which rose 10.08% to 18.56, General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) which was up 6.34% to settle at 8.05 and Coty Inc (NYSE:COTY) which gained 5.95% to close at 6.95.
The worst performers were Hologic Inc (NASDAQ:HOLX) which was down 6.52% to 38.42 in late trade, Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) which lost 3.91% to settle at 69.50 and NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG) which was down 3.76% to 38.11 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SGYP) which rose 93.15% to 0.220, Aoxin Tianli Group Inc (NASDAQ:ABAC) which was up 46.24% to settle at 1.3600 and Advaxis Inc (NASDAQ:ADXS) which gained 55.26% to close at 0.29.
The worst performers were Francescas Holdings (NASDAQ:FRAN) which was down 22.02% to 0.76 in late trade, Uxin Ltd (NASDAQ:UXIN) which lost 20.16% to settle at 3.88 and Draper Oakwood Technology Acquisition Inc Class A (NASDAQ:RBZ) which was down 17.31% to 1.72 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2185 to 910 and 48 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1950 rose and 728 declined, while 43 ended unchanged.
Shares in Draper Oakwood Technology Acquisition Inc Class A (NASDAQ:RBZ) fell to all time lows; losing 17.31% or 0.36 to 1.72.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 8.65% to 23.22.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.29% or 3.75 to $1285.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 2.64% or 1.20 to hit $46.61 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 2.34% or 1.26 to trade at $55.06 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 1.03% to 1.1343, while USD/JPY fell 0.56% to 109.09.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.69% at 96.395.