Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Technology, Healthcare and Consumer Goods sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Oil & Gas, Consumer Services and Telecoms sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.06%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.31%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.67%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 2.55% or 3.08 points to trade at 123.92 at the close. Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) added 2.44% or 1.75 points to end at 73.51 and Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) was up 1.63% or 2.32 points to 144.95 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which lost 9.17% or 11.16 points to trade at 110.53 in late trade. Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) declined 1.38% or 1.18 points to end at 84.03 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) shed 0.52% or 0.55 points to 106.08.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) which rose 16.67% to 51.92, H&R Block Inc (NYSE:HRB) which was up 8.91% to settle at 35.83 and Harman International Industries (NYSE:HAR) which gained 6.87% to close at 118.01.
The worst performers were Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW) which was down 19.52% to 5.65 in late trade, Quanta Services Inc (NYSE:PWR) which lost 15.44% to settle at 23.11 and Discovery Communications Inc (NASDAQ:DISCA) which was down 12.14% to 28.87 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Tecumseh Products Co (NASDAQ:TECU) which rose 148.50% to 4.970, Code Rebel Corp (NASDAQ:CDRB) which was up 60.84% to settle at 12.69 and Hercules Offshore Inc (NASDAQ:HERO) which gained 48.45% to close at 0.110.
The worst performers were Alphatec Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ATEC) which was down 42.65% to 0.780 in late trade, Retailmenot (NASDAQ:SALE) which lost 40.61% to settle at 8.38 and FreeSeas Inc (NASDAQ:FREE) which was down 34.15% to 0.540 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1666 to 1416 and 3 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1638 rose and 1169 declined, while 10 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.77% to 12.51.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was up 0.01% or 0.10 to $1084.10 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.00% or 0.01 to hit $45.11 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 0.73% or 0.36 to trade at $49.62 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.23% to 1.0905, while USD/JPY rose 0.38% to 124.85.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.07% at 97.97.