Investing.com – U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Telecoms and Financials sectors led shares higher while losses in the Consumer Goods, Basic Materials and Healthcare sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.06%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.02%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.15%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 1.99% or 1.63 points to trade at 83.71 at the close. Meanwhile, Visa Inc (NYSE:V) added 0.85% or 0.70 points to end at 83.23 and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was up 0.78% or 1.25 points to 161.60 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT), which fell 1.30% or 0.95 points to trade at 72.05 at the close. Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) declined 0.97% or 1.30 points to end at 132.80 and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was down 0.76% or 0.67 points to 87.97.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) which rose 12.09% to 53.30, Tegna Inc (NYSE:TGNA) which was up 8.89% to settle at 21.8000 and Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA) which gained 6.70% to close at 55.13.
The worst performers were Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (NYSE:MJN) which was down 5.52% to 79.97 in late trade, Whole Foods Market Inc (NASDAQ:WFM) which lost 5.28% to settle at 29.08 and General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS) which was down 4.33% to 67.83 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Cogentix Medical Inc (NASDAQ:CGNT) which rose 50.83% to 1.810, Retrophin I (NASDAQ:RTRX) which was up 27.51% to settle at 20.81 and Agios Pharm (NASDAQ:AGIO) which gained 25.88% to close at 46.98.
The worst performers were Great Basin Scientific Inc (NASDAQ:GBSN) which was down 19.95% to 0.1529 in late trade, Shiloh Industries Inc (NASDAQ:SHLO) which lost 19.00% to settle at 7.12 and Lightbridge Corp (NASDAQ:LTBR) which was down 16.48% to 2.1800 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1966 to 1186 and 111 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1502 rose and 1032 declined, while 101 ended unchanged.
Shares in Visa Inc (NYSE:V) rose to all time highs; rising 0.85% or 0.70 to 83.23. Shares in Cogentix Medical Inc (NASDAQ:CGNT) rose to 52-week highs; up 50.83% or 0.610 to 1.810. Shares in Great Basin Scientific Inc (NASDAQ:GBSN) fell to all time lows; falling 19.95% or 0.0381 to 0.1529.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.92% to 11.91.
Gold for December delivery was down 0.35% or 4.75 to $1349.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 1.45% or 0.65 to hit $45.48 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 1.46% or 0.69 to trade at $47.95 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.15% to 1.1238, while USD/JPY fell 0.24% to 101.77.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.19% at 94.98.