Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.42%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.51%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.68%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which rose 4.26% or 1.34 points to trade at 32.83 at the close. Meanwhile, Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) added 2.60% or 2.16 points to end at 85.16 and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) was up 1.86% or 1.17 points to 64.21 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which fell 2.17% or 2.60 points to trade at 117.32 at the close. McDonald`s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) declined 1.17% or 1.14 points to end at 96.44 and General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) was down 0.97% or 0.27 points to 27.46.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Transocean Ltd (NYSE:RIG) which rose 10.14% to 18.90, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which was up 9.08% to settle at 20.67 and CONSOL Energy Inc (NYSE:CNX) which gained 8.38% to close at 30.78.
The worst performers were Precision Castparts Corporation (NYSE:PCP) which was down 3.65% to 208.08 in late trade, Mylan Inc (NASDAQ:MYL) which lost 2.70% to settle at 66.77 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) which was down 2.17% to 117.32 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Viggle (NASDAQ:VGGL) which rose 45.00% to 2.19, Lilis Energy Inc (NASDAQ:LLEX) which was up 27.21% to settle at 1.730 and DS Healthcare Group Inc (NASDAQ:DSKX) which gained 23.76% to close at 1.250.
The worst performers were Forcefield (NASDAQ:FNRG) which was down 21.53% to 6.05 in late trade, Axion Power International Inc (NASDAQ:AXPW) which lost 21.31% to settle at 0.041 and Cardica Inc (NASDAQ:CRDC) which was down 14.66% to 0.495 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1837 to 975; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1835 rose and 948 declined, while 5 ended unchanged.
Shares in JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) rose to all time highs; gaining 1.86% or 1.17 to 64.21. Shares in Cardica Inc (NASDAQ:CRDC) fell to all time lows; falling 14.66% or 0.085 to 0.495.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.07% to 12.84.
Gold for June delivery was up 0.81% or 9.70 to $1202.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 4.96% or 2.65 to hit $55.94 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 5.08% or 3.04 to trade at $62.85 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.28% to 1.0686, while USD/JPY fell 0.21% to 119.14.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.47% at 98.55.