Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Industrials, Oil & Gas and Basic Materials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.42%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.65%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.46%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which rose 1.83% or 6.65 points to trade at 369.40 at the close. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 0.76% or 2.02 points to end at 266.68 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was up 0.45% or 0.22 points to 49.39 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which fell 2.41% or 3.35 points to trade at 135.74 at the close. United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) declined 2.33% or 3.10 points to end at 130.09 and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) was down 2.31% or 1.29 points to 54.52.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) which rose 8.74% to 260.37, Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) which was up 3.77% to settle at 145.72 and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) which gained 3.14% to close at 85.75.
The worst performers were CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) which was down 10.27% to 71.38 in late trade, Textron Inc (NYSE:TXT) which lost 9.53% to settle at 48.88 and Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) which was down 7.43% to 191.11 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Guardion Health Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:GHSI) which rose 93.75% to 1.8600, Scpharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SCPH) which was up 27.01% to settle at 5.36 and AVROBIO Inc (NASDAQ:AVRO) which gained 19.52% to close at 22.90.
The worst performers were Xenetic Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:XBIO) which was down 49.26% to 5.500 in late trade, Xcel Brands Inc (NASDAQ:XELB) which lost 17.74% to settle at 2.69 and Monaker Group Inc (NASDAQ:MKGI) which was down 17.23% to 2.4500 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1921 to 1083 and 20 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1704 fell and 934 advanced, while 104 ended unchanged.
Shares in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) rose to all time highs; up 8.74% or 20.93 to 260.37. Shares in Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) rose to all time highs; gaining 3.77% or 5.29 to 145.72. Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) rose to all time highs; rising 3.14% or 2.61 to 85.75. Shares in Xenetic Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:XBIO) fell to 52-week lows; losing 49.26% or 5.340 to 5.500.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 8.63% to 13.97.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 1.20% or 16.95 to $1428.15 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 1.80% or 1.04 to hit $56.58 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.03% or 0.02 to trade at $63.61 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.03% to 1.1226, while USD/JPY fell 0.01% to 107.92.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.20% at 96.850.