Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Consumer Goods sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.84%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.87%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.59%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which rose 2.49% or 0.63 points to trade at 25.93 at the close. Meanwhile, Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) added 2.40% or 1.85 points to end at 79.02 and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) was up 1.98% or 1.44 points to 74.30 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which fell 0.39% or 0.18 points to trade at 46.19 at the close. Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) added 0.03% or 0.01 points to end at 33.18 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 0.06% or 0.07 points to 116.35.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP) which rose 14.23% to 82.98, Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) which was up 14.07% to settle at 9.00 and Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA) which gained 6.46% to close at 43.04.
The worst performers were FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) which was down 2.84% to 149.63 in late trade, Frontier Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:FTR) which lost 2.63% to settle at 5.18 and Level 3 Communications Inc (NYSE:LVLT) which was down 2.44% to 44.44 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Intracellular Th (NASDAQ:ITCI) which rose 86.86% to 48.79, Adept Technology Inc (NASDAQ:ADEP) which was up 62.13% to settle at 12.93 and USMD Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:USMD) which gained 24.38% to close at 10.510.
The worst performers were Great Basin Scientific Inc (NASDAQ:GBSN) which was down 19.09% to 0.06 in late trade, Interphase Corporation (NASDAQ:INPH) which lost 18.84% to settle at 0.12 and Perseon Corp (NASDAQ:PRSN) which was down 13.14% to 0.495 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2011 to 536 and 3 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1566 rose and 987 declined, while 61 ended unchanged.
Shares in Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP) rose to all time highs; rising 14.23% or 10.34 to 82.98. Shares in Intracellular Th (NASDAQ:ITCI) rose to all time highs; rising 86.86% or 22.68 to 48.79. Shares in Great Basin Scientific Inc (NASDAQ:GBSN) fell to all time lows; losing 19.09% or 0.01 to 0.06. Shares in Adept Technology Inc (NASDAQ:ADEP) rose to 52-week highs; rising 62.13% or 4.96 to 12.93. Shares in Interphase Corporation (NASDAQ:INPH) fell to all time lows; falling 18.84% or 0.03 to 0.12.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.08% to 21.62.
Gold for December delivery was up 1.50% or 16.50 to $1119.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 5.99% or 2.67 to hit $47.26 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 4.52% or 2.16 to trade at $49.91 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.12% to 1.1283, while USD/JPY rose 0.10% to 120.55.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.27% at 95.50.