Investing.com – U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Financials sectors led shares higher while losses in the Utilities, Telecoms and Consumer Goods sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.01%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.27%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 1.05%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which rose 3.82% or 8.09 points to trade at 219.84 at the close. Meanwhile, EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) added 3.46% or 2.46 points to end at 73.67 and Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) was up 2.12% or 2.32 points to 111.66 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Visa Inc (NYSE:V), which fell 2.27% or 1.80 points to trade at 77.35 at the close. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) declined 2.05% or 1.04 points to end at 49.91 and Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was down 1.91% or 0.79 points to 40.37.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) which rose 20.97% to 18.09, Transocean Ltd (NYSE:RIG) which was up 17.15% to settle at 12.91 and Newfield Exploration Company (NYSE:NFX) which gained 15.65% to close at 45.22.
The worst performers were Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VRTX) which was down 4.73% to 81.60 in late trade, American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) which lost 4.59% to settle at 72.49 and Coty Inc (NYSE:COTY) which was down 4.35% to 18.70 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Memorial Production Partners LP (NASDAQ:MEMP) which rose 65.02% to 0.520, Superconductor Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:SCON) which was up 49.00% to settle at 2.9800 and Globus Maritime Ltd (NASDAQ:GLBS) which gained 21.72% to close at 6.7800.
The worst performers were Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ARWR) which was down 67.20% to 1.44 in late trade, Cerecor Inc (NASDAQ:CERC) which lost 55.93% to settle at 2.080 and Towerstream Corp (NASDAQ:TWER) which was down 36.51% to 0.2200 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1887 to 1268 and 85 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1601 fell and 866 advanced, while 155 ended unchanged.
Shares in Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) rose to 52-week highs; rising 20.97% or 3.13 to 18.09. Shares in Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) rose to 5-year highs; rising 3.82% or 8.09 to 219.84. Shares in Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) rose to 52-week highs; rising 2.12% or 2.32 to 111.66. Shares in Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) fell to 52-week lows; losing 1.91% or 0.79 to 40.37. Shares in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ARWR) fell to all time lows; losing 67.20% or 2.95 to 1.44.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 3.64% to 13.37.
Gold for February delivery was down 1.31% or 15.65 to $1175.15 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 8.51% or 3.85 to hit $49.08 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 8.85% or 4.19 to trade at $51.51 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.51% to 1.0596, while USD/JPY rose 1.78% to 114.38.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.57% at 101.56.