Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Consumer Goods and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.11%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.28%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.23%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM), which rose 1.27% or 2.99 points to trade at 237.83 at the close. Meanwhile, Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) added 1.27% or 1.91 points to end at 152.21 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) was up 1.11% or 2.45 points to 222.40 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which fell 3.16% or 12.74 points to trade at 390.31 at the close. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) declined 0.85% or 1.46 points to end at 169.79 and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) was down 0.77% or 0.42 points to 53.91.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Coterra Energy Inc (NYSE:CTRA) which rose 6.07% to 22.54, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (NASDAQ:TTWO) which was up 5.15% to settle at 156.06 and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which gained 5.02% to close at 45.15.
The worst performers were Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) which was down 6.80% to 147.14 in late trade, Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) which lost 6.70% to settle at 225.34 and T. Rowe Price Group Inc (NASDAQ:TROW) which was down 6.63% to 180.83 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Electrocore LLC (NASDAQ:ECOR) which rose 64.03% to 0.8800, Immuron Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:IMRN) which was up 49.61% to settle at 3.830 and Surgepays Inc (NASDAQ:SURG) which gained 32.08% to close at 2.80.
The worst performers were Avinger Inc (NASDAQ:AVGR) which was down 25.67% to 0.3571 in late trade, Dogness International Corp Class A (NASDAQ:DOGZ) which lost 19.83% to settle at 2.9100 and Nutriband Inc (NASDAQ:NTRB) which was down 17.30% to 6.74 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1669 to 1542 and 144 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2301 fell and 1496 advanced, while 199 ended unchanged.
Shares in Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) rose to 5-year highs; up 5.02% or 2.16 to 45.15. Shares in Avinger Inc (NASDAQ:AVGR) fell to 52-week lows; down 25.67% or 0.1233 to 0.3571.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.29% to 17.62.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.40% or 7.25 to $1825.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 1.91% or 1.55 to hit $82.77 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.06% or 0.05 to trade at $84.80 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.00% to 1.1442, while USD/JPY rose 0.02% to 114.65.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.68% at 94.975.