Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Consumer Services and Healthcare sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.25%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.31%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.28%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD), which rose 2.37% or 3.63 points to trade at 156.56 at the close. Meanwhile, Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) added 2.15% or 2.35 points to end at 111.79 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was up 2.11% or 0.74 points to 35.76 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX), which fell 1.44% or 1.60 points to trade at 109.61 at the close. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) declined 1.12% or 1.32 points to end at 116.98 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was down 1.00% or 2.38 points to 234.62.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) which rose 7.45% to 25.82, CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE:CF) which was up 7.29% to settle at 31.20 and Helmerich & Payne Inc (NYSE:HP) which gained 5.89% to close at 46.35.
The worst performers were Envision Healthcare Corp (NYSE:EVHC) which was down 4.24% to 48.77 in late trade, Darden Restaurants Inc (NYSE:DRI) which lost 3.49% to settle at 78.36 and Newell Brands Inc (NYSE:NWL) which was down 3.47% to 47.03 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Zais Group Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ZAIS) which rose 86.11% to 3.201, Verastem Inc (NASDAQ:VSTM) which was up 28.12% to settle at 4.920 and Trans World Entertainment Corp (NASDAQ:TWMC) which gained 31.43% to close at 2.300.
The worst performers were Uni-Pixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL) which was down 22.95% to 0.0779 in late trade, LM Funding America Inc (NASDAQ:LMFA) which lost 17.24% to settle at 2.16 and Trivago NV (NASDAQ:TRVG) which was down 16.34% to 12.49 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1898 to 1189 and 149 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1336 rose and 1139 declined, while 160 ended unchanged.
Shares in Envision Healthcare Corp (NYSE:EVHC) fell to 52-week lows; losing 4.24% or 2.16 to 48.77. Shares in Verastem Inc (NASDAQ:VSTM) rose to 52-week highs; rising 28.12% or 1.080 to 4.920. Shares in LM Funding America Inc (NASDAQ:LMFA) fell to all time lows; losing 17.24% or 0.45 to 2.16.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.74% to 11.65.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.39% or 5.26 to $1339.24 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 0.97% or 0.47 to hit $49.13 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 1.59% or 0.85 to trade at $54.23 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.05% to 1.1919, while USD/JPY rose 0.47% to 109.32.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.08% at 92.21.