Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Basic Materials and Consumer Goods sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.62% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.57%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.24%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE), which rose 5.10% or 1.87 points to trade at 38.56 at the close. Meanwhile, Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) added 3.02% or 1.30 points to end at 44.34 and McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) was up 2.92% or 5.64 points to 198.62 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which fell 2.84% or 6.02 points to trade at 206.00 at the close. Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) declined 2.33% or 1.04 points to end at 43.61 and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) was down 0.72% or 0.72 points to 98.69.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA) which rose 11.97% to 122.42, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) which was up 8.40% to settle at 61.79 and Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) which gained 7.84% to close at 97.36.
The worst performers were FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) which was down 20.91% to 27.09 in late trade, Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) which lost 5.27% to settle at 75.62 and Macy’s Inc (NYSE:M) which was down 5.00% to 6.46 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were US Energy Corp (NASDAQ:USEG) which rose 56.29% to 7.83, Kingold Jewelry Inc (NASDAQ:KGJI) which was up 46.32% to settle at 0.828 and Sunworks Inc (NASDAQ:SUNW) which gained 38.54% to close at 1.330.
The worst performers were Midatech Pharma PLC ADR (NASDAQ:MTP) which was down 31.63% to 2.9400 in late trade, Novan Inc (NASDAQ:NOVN) which lost 31.11% to settle at 0.8474 and Tellurian Inc (NASDAQ:TELL) which was down 29.75% to 1.11 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1670 to 1185 and 79 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1554 fell and 1149 advanced, while 72 ended unchanged.
Shares in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) fell to 5-year lows; losing 20.91% or 7.16 to 27.09. Shares in Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) rose to all time highs; up 8.40% or 4.79 to 61.79. Shares in Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) rose to all time highs; up 7.84% or 7.08 to 97.36.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.09% to 24.32 a new 3-months low.
Gold Futures for August delivery was up 1.46% or 27.00 to $1870.90 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September fell 0.10% or 0.04 to hit $41.88 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 0.02% or 0.01 to trade at $44.29 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.01% to 1.1569, while USD/JPY rose 0.03% to 107.17.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.14% at 94.925.