Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Financials, Healthcare and Consumer Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.45% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.40%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.32%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), which rose 1.60% or 1.41 points to trade at 89.56 at the close. Meanwhile, Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) added 1.37% or 0.89 points to end at 65.66 and Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) was up 1.31% or 0.89 points to 68.66 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which fell 0.58% or 0.28 points to trade at 48.27 at the close. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) declined 0.51% or 0.45 points to end at 87.86 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) was down 0.42% or 0.41 points to 98.09.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Coty Inc (NYSE:COTY) which rose 4.90% to 19.27, General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) which was up 4.84% to settle at 37.24 and Endo International PLC (NASDAQ:ENDP) which gained 4.55% to close at 12.65.
The worst performers were FLIR Systems Inc (NASDAQ:FLIR) which was down 6.18% to 34.15 in late trade, Scana Corporation (NYSE:SCG) which lost 4.53% to settle at 66.86 and Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) which was down 3.76% to 91.19 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Zais Group Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ZAIS) which rose 110.73% to 4.320, COPsync Inc (NASDAQ:COYN) which was up 46.67% to settle at 0.6600 and Galectin Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:GALT) which gained 40.62% to close at 1.800.
The worst performers were Aviragen Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AVIR) which was down 35.43% to 0.678 in late trade, Gevo Inc (NASDAQ:GEVO) which lost 31.76% to settle at 1.5900 and Uni-Pixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL) which was down 30.41% to 1.0300 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1662 to 1556 and 52 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1395 rose and 1090 declined, while 139 ended unchanged.
Shares in JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) rose to all time highs; up 1.60% or 1.41 to 89.56. Shares in Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) rose to 5-year highs; rising 1.37% or 0.89 to 65.66. Shares in Aviragen Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AVIR) fell to all time lows; falling 35.43% or 0.372 to 0.678.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.44% to 10.80.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.30% or 3.65 to $1229.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.49% or 0.26 to hit $53.19 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.59% or 0.33 to trade at $55.92 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.19% to 1.0579, while USD/JPY rose 0.46% to 114.25.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.21% at 101.21.