Investing.com – U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Healthcare, Consumer Services and Technology sectors led shares higher while losses in the Oil & Gas, Utilities and Telecoms sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.33%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.23%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.06%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which rose 0.92% or 0.59 points to trade at 64.99 at the close. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) added 0.63% or 0.44 points to end at 69.80 and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) was up 0.62% or 0.90 points to 146.92 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which fell 2.81% or 2.70 points to trade at 93.23 at the close. Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) declined 1.97% or 2.20 points to end at 109.61 and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) was down 1.81% or 1.49 points to 81.03.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were H&R Block Inc (NYSE:HRB) which rose 14.88% to 23.94, TripAdvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP) which was up 6.10% to settle at 43.83 and PPG Industries Inc (NYSE:PPG) which gained 6.00% to close at 106.83.
The worst performers were Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) which was down 8.69% to 14.87 in late trade, Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) which lost 6.74% to settle at 25.87 and Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) which was down 6.52% to 40.72 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Ocera Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:OCRX) which rose 84.87% to 1.100, DryShips Inc (NASDAQ:DRYS) which was up 25.20% to settle at 1.59 and Global Blood Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:GBT) which gained 21.02% to close at 34.25.
The worst performers were Alliqua Inc (NASDAQ:ALQA) which was down 23.44% to 0.613 in late trade, MGC Diagnostics Corporation (NASDAQ:MGCD) which lost 19.23% to settle at 7.94 and Tellurian Inc (NASDAQ:TELL) which was down 18.94% to 11.3400 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2299 to 930 and 36 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1427 fell and 1075 advanced, while 118 ended unchanged.
Shares in Global Blood Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:GBT) rose to 52-week highs; up 21.02% or 5.95 to 34.25.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 3.23% to 11.82.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.68% or 8.25 to $1207.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 5.33% or 2.83 to hit $50.31 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 4.81% or 2.69 to trade at $53.23 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.22% to 1.0543, while USD/JPY rose 0.35% to 114.38.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.28% at 102.10.