Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Utilities and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Technology, Consumer Services and Telecoms sectors led shares lower.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.33%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.16%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.22%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), which rose 2.20% or 2.34 points to trade at 108.84 at the close. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) added 1.82% or 1.03 points to end at 57.76 and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) was up 1.56% or 0.97 points to 63.04 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which lost 0.76% or 0.24 points to trade at 31.49 in late trade. Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) declined 0.61% or 0.17 points to end at 27.81 and Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shed 0.47% or 0.19 points to 40.51.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were ENSCO plc (NYSE:ESV) which rose 6.65% to 25.18, Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc (NYSE:DO) which was up 5.58% to settle at 30.83 and Helmerich & Payne Inc (NYSE:HP) which gained 5.11% to close at 75.69.
The worst performers were Wynn Resorts Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN) which was down 4.54% to 127.53 in late trade, Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) which lost 4.18% to settle at 100.49 and Altera Corporation (NASDAQ:ALTR) which was down 2.99% to 42.55 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Dover Saddlery Inc (NASDAQ:DOVR) which rose 67.00% to 8.35, Novogen Limited (NASDAQ:NVGN) which was up 28.60% to settle at 7.240 and Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM) which gained 23.05% to close at 3.95.
The worst performers were KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:KBIO) which was down 15.14% to 0.560 in late trade, Rxi Pharmac (NASDAQ:RXII) which lost 14.30% to settle at 0.720 and Tantech Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:TANH) which was down 11.67% to 13.25 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1704 to 1103; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1511 fell and 1272 advanced, while 5 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.94% to 13.67.
In commodities trading, Gold for June delivery was down 0.56% or 6.70 to $1192.60 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 2.29% or 1.19 to hit $53.10 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 1.13% or 0.67 to trade at $59.71 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.79% to 1.0651, while USD/JPY fell 0.57% to 119.44.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.73% at 99.01.