Investing.com – U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Telecoms and Healthcare sectors led shares higher while losses in the Consumer Goods, Basic Materials and Industrials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.11%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.08%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.14%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which rose 4.87% or 10.37 points to trade at 223.38 at the close. Meanwhile, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) added 3.41% or 1.31 points to end at 39.77 and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) was up 2.82% or 2.47 points to 89.92 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM), which fell 8.83% or 21.30 points to trade at 220.04 at the close. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) declined 2.85% or 6.17 points to end at 209.97 and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) was down 1.51% or 4.15 points to 270.95.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were NetApp Inc (NASDAQ:NTAP) which rose 10.80% to 60.01, HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE:HFC) which was up 8.68% to settle at 26.28 and Apache Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) which gained 6.31% to close at 13.15.
The worst performers were Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) which was down 8.83% to 220.04 in late trade, Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) which lost 4.95% to settle at 184.21 and Genuine Parts Co (NYSE:GPC) which was down 4.50% to 97.09 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:MACK) which rose 66.18% to 6.78, NanoVibronix Inc (NASDAQ:NAOV) which was up 56.58% to settle at 1.110 and Catabasis Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CATB) which gained 29.45% to close at 2.11.
The worst performers were Ovid Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:OVID) which was down 55.71% to 2.94 in late trade, Auris Medical Holding Ltd (NASDAQ:EARS) which lost 31.93% to settle at 3.560 and Medavail Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MDVL) which was down 27.27% to 13.120 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1744 to 1158 and 82 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1494 rose and 1305 declined, while 75 ended unchanged.
Shares in Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:MACK) rose to 52-week highs; rising 66.18% or 2.70 to 6.78.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.77% to 20.93.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.74% or 13.50 to $1832.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 1.46% or 0.65 to hit $45.20 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 1.60% or 0.76 to trade at $48.18 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.22% to 1.2097, while USD/JPY rose 0.21% to 104.52.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.19% at 91.123.