Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Oil & Gas, Healthcare and Consumer Services sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.32%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.32%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.32%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were General Electric Company (N:GE), which rose 1.83% or 0.55 points to trade at 30.67 at the close. Meanwhile, EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (N:DD) added 0.99% or 0.66 points to end at 67.00 and 3M Company (N:MMM) was up 0.93% or 1.46 points to 159.05 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Nike Inc (N:NKE), which fell 1.98% or 2.58 points to trade at 127.42 at the close. Wal-Mart Stores Inc (N:WMT) declined 1.89% or 1.11 points to end at 57.57 and Merck & Company Inc (N:MRK) was down 1.30% or 0.71 points to 53.72.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Xerox Corporation (N:XRX) which rose 6.55% to 10.25, ADT Corporation (N:ADT) which was up 4.42% to settle at 33.99 and Molson Coors Brewing Company (N:TAP) which gained 4.39% to close at 92.19.
The worst performers were Macy`s Inc (N:M) which was down 13.99% to 40.44 in late trade, Mallinckrodt (N:MNK) which lost 8.72% to settle at 57.12 and Marathon Oil Corporation (N:MRO) which was down 7.88% to 17.30 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Digital Ally Inc (O:DGLY) which rose 27.29% to 7.510, Recon Technology Ltd (O:RCON) which was up 13.54% to settle at 1.090 and Pulmatrix Inc (O:PULM) which gained 25.14% to close at 4.63.
The worst performers were Skyline Medical Inc (O:SKLN) which was down 28.35% to 3.7400 in late trade, xG Technology Inc (O:XGTI) which lost 22.33% to settle at 0.280 and Capstone Turbine Corporation (O:CPST) which was down 22.22% to 2.170 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1981 to 1451 and 6 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1692 fell and 903 advanced, while 62 ended unchanged.
Shares in Macy`s Inc (N:M) fell to 52-week lows; falling 13.99% or 6.58 to 40.44. Shares in Mallinckrodt (N:MNK) fell to 52-week lows; falling 8.72% or 5.46 to 57.12. Shares in Molson Coors Brewing Company (N:TAP) rose to all time highs; rising 4.39% or 3.88 to 92.19. Shares in General Electric Company (N:GE) rose to 5-year highs; up 1.83% or 0.55 to 30.67. Shares in xG Technology Inc (O:XGTI) fell to all time lows; losing 22.33% or 0.081 to 0.280.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 5.43% to 16.12.
Gold for December delivery was down 0.34% or 3.70 to $1084.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 2.87% or 1.27 to hit $42.94 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 3.01% or 1.45 to trade at $46.65 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.15% to 1.0740, while USD/JPY fell 0.26% to 122.84.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.21% at 99.06.