Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Healthcare, Oil & Gas and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.64%, while the S&P 500 index gained 1.05%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 1.59%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE), which rose 4.91% or 1.54 points to trade at 32.93 at the close. Meanwhile, Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) added 2.56% or 1.39 points to end at 55.63 and Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) was up 2.34% or 2.17 points to 94.84 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which fell 0.26% or 0.08 points to trade at 30.90 at the close. The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) declined 0.17% or 0.20 points to end at 115.93 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) was down 0.10% or 0.16 points to 155.19.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI) which rose 8.82% to 42.83, Endo International PLC (NASDAQ:ENDP) which was up 8.62% to settle at 29.23 and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VRTX) which gained 8.50% to close at 91.31.
The worst performers were Harley-Davidson Inc (NYSE:HOG) which was down 7.02% to 46.34 in late trade, CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE:CF) which lost 2.62% to settle at 29.32 and Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) which was down 2.31% to 61.68 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd (NASDAQ:GLMD) which rose 44.86% to 7.33, Momo Inc (NASDAQ:MOMO) which was up 34.05% to settle at 16.14 and Tokai Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:TKAI) which gained 32.48% to close at 7.75.
The worst performers were Bind Therap (NASDAQ:BIND) which was down 24.17% to 1.82 in late trade, Fuwei Films Holdings Co Ltd (NASDAQ:FFHL) which lost 20.29% to settle at 0.6000 and Sky Solar Holdings Adr Rep 8 (NASDAQ:SKYS) which was down 20.07% to 4.46 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2461 to 873 and 31 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1843 rose and 752 declined, while 53 ended unchanged.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 7.98% to 14.19.
Gold for June delivery was down 0.37% or 4.50 to $1225.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 5.21% or 1.87 to hit $37.76 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 5.02% or 1.90 to trade at $39.77 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.11% to 1.1396, while USD/JPY fell 0.48% to 109.81.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.11% at 94.51.