Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Consumer Services and Telecoms sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.18% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.08%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.09%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), which rose 1.50% or 1.69 points to trade at 114.18 at the close. Meanwhile, DowDuPont Inc (NYSE:DWDP) added 1.43% or 0.98 points to end at 69.50 and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) was up 0.98% or 0.46 points to 47.25 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which fell 1.08% or 1.31 points to trade at 119.63 at the close. Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) declined 0.88% or 0.31 points to end at 35.06 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) was down 0.79% or 0.97 points to 121.51.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) which rose 8.01% to 98.16, Nordstrom Inc (NYSE:JWN) which was up 5.97% to settle at 47.74 and Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) which gained 5.35% to close at 3.940.
The worst performers were Equifax Inc (NYSE:EFX) which was down 14.63% to 98.99 in late trade, Henry Schein Inc (NASDAQ:HSIC) which lost 4.00% to settle at 168.88 and Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) which was down 3.42% to 85.74 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Net Element Inc (NASDAQ:NETE) which rose 119.78% to 0.6000, LM Funding America Inc (NASDAQ:LMFA) which was up 79.65% to settle at 2.03 and Rentech Inc (NASDAQ:RTK) which gained 27.68% to close at 0.346.
The worst performers were Pulse Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:PLSE) which was down 25.60% to 10.260 in late trade, Delcath Systems Inc (NASDAQ:DCTH) which lost 19.44% to settle at 0.0999 and Applied Genetic (NASDAQ:AGTC) which was down 18.18% to 4.05 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1601 to 1454 and 166 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1394 rose and 1076 declined, while 168 ended unchanged.
Shares in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) rose to all time highs; gaining 8.01% or 7.28 to 98.16. Shares in Equifax Inc (NYSE:EFX) fell to 52-week lows; losing 14.63% or 16.97 to 98.99. Shares in Applied Genetic (NASDAQ:AGTC) fell to all time lows; falling 18.18% or 0.90 to 4.05.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.47% to 10.53.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.43% or 5.78 to $1326.92 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 2.24% or 1.08 to hit $49.31 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 1.51% or 0.82 to trade at $55.09 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.67% to 1.1886, while USD/JPY rose 0.38% to 110.57.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.57% at 92.41.