Investing.com – U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Consumer Services, Telecommunications and Technology sectors led shares higher while losses in the Oil & Gas, Health Care and Utilities sectors led shares lower.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.04%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.42%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.23%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which rose 7.63% or 7.18 points to trade at 101.28 at the close. Meanwhile, Visa Inc (NYSE:V) added 1.96% or 5.10 points to end at 264.89 and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) was up 1.09% or 1.17 points to 108.41 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which fell 3.23% or 1.97 points to trade at 59.05 at the close. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) declined 2.35% or 1.97 points to end at 81.95 and Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) was down 1.59% or 0.43 points to 26.69.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) which rose 7.63% to 101.28, Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) which was up 6.87% to settle at 214.88 and Kohl's Corporation (NYSE:KSS) which gained 6.35% to close at 66.87.
The worst performers were Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) which was down 18.22% to 139.71 in late trade, Staples Inc (NASDAQ:SPLS) which lost 11.99% to settle at 16.73 and Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:GILD) which was down 8.16% to 98.43 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were One Horizon (NASDAQ:OHGI) which rose 87.31% to 2.66, FreeSeas Inc (NASDAQ:FREE) which was up 32.21% to settle at 0.110 and 6D Global Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:SIXD) which gained 26.67% to close at 7.60.
The worst performers were Cache Inc (NASDAQ:CACH) which was down 40.41% to 0.03 in late trade, Corporte Re (NASDAQ:CRRS) which lost 44.90% to settle at 0.27 and RadiSys Corporation (NASDAQ:RSYS) which was down 24.00% to 1.90 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1822 to 975; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1685 fell and 1098 advanced, while 4 ended unchanged.
Shares in Staples Inc (NASDAQ:SPLS) fell to 3-year highs; down 11.99% or 2.28 to 16.73. Shares in Corporte Re (NASDAQ:CRRS) fell to 52-week lows; down 44.90% or 0.22 to 0.27.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 5.89% to 18.35.
Gold for April delivery was up 0.66% or 8.30 to $1268.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude Oil for delivery in March fell 8.41% or 4.46 to hit $48.59 a barrel, while the March Brent Oil contract fell 5.79% or 3.35 to trade at $54.55 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 1.18% to 1.1343, while USD/JPY fell 0.43% to 117.08.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.84% at 94.55.