Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Goods and Basic Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.36%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.25%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.40%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which rose 1.91% or 4.19 points to trade at 223.83 at the close. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) added 1.44% or 0.64 points to end at 45.03 and E I du Pont de Nemours & Co (NYSE:DD) was up 1.34% or 1.04 points to 78.38 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which fell 1.59% or 0.45 points to trade at 27.83 at the close. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) declined 0.97% or 0.44 points to end at 45.04 and Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) was down 0.85% or 0.27 points to 31.49.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Intuit Inc (NASDAQ:INTU) which rose 6.72% to 137.83, First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) which was up 6.66% to settle at 38.90 and NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG) which gained 5.54% to close at 16.76.
The worst performers were Tiffany & Co (NYSE:TIF) which was down 8.71% to 85.03 in late trade, Signet Jewelers Ltd (NYSE:SIG) which lost 6.59% to settle at 54.53 and Advance Auto Parts Inc (NYSE:AAP) which was down 5.43% to 133.02 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Globus Maritime Ltd (NASDAQ:GLBS) which rose 82.38% to 1.6600, Spi Energy Co Ltd (NASDAQ:SPI) which was up 30.57% to settle at 0.46 and Fenix Parts Inc (NASDAQ:FENX) which gained 31.46% to close at 1.150.
The worst performers were Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc (NASDAQ:HMNY) which was down 23.36% to 2.920 in late trade, Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:EKSO) which lost 20.59% to settle at 1.08 and Aeglea Bio Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AGLE) which was down 14.72% to 4.75 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1800 to 1404 and 52 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1230 fell and 1219 advanced, while 154 ended unchanged.
Shares in Intuit Inc (NASDAQ:INTU) rose to all time highs; gaining 6.72% or 8.68 to 137.83. Shares in Signet Jewelers Ltd (NYSE:SIG) fell to 3-years lows; falling 6.59% or 3.85 to 54.53. Shares in Advance Auto Parts Inc (NYSE:AAP) fell to 52-week lows; falling 5.43% or 7.64 to 133.02. Shares in Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:EKSO) fell to all time lows; losing 20.59% or 0.28 to 1.08.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.44% to 10.03.
Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.18% or 2.29 to $1257.79 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 0.31% or 0.16 to hit $51.31 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 0.35% or 0.19 to trade at $53.96 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.30% to 1.1217, while USD/JPY fell 0.20% to 111.56.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.31% at 96.98.