Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Telecoms, Utilities and Consumer Goods sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.70%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.22%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.08%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), which rose 8.46% or 10.37 points to trade at 132.89 at the close. Meanwhile, United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) added 5.38% or 5.98 points to end at 117.04 and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was up 4.87% or 4.40 points to 94.84 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM), which fell 0.82% or 0.59 points to trade at 71.30 at the close. Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) declined 0.85% or 0.95 points to end at 111.39 and Visa Inc (NYSE:V) was down 0.75% or 1.04 points to 137.01.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) which rose 12.69% to 229.51, Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) which was up 10.73% to settle at 29.40 and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) which gained 8.46% to close at 132.89.
The worst performers were Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) which was down 6.24% to 78.20 in late trade, Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) which lost 5.06% to settle at 119.83 and EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) which was down 4.70% to 19.05 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were SPI Energy Co Ltd (NASDAQ:SPI) which rose 194.36% to 2.87, Boxlight Corp Class A (NASDAQ:BOXL) which was up 34.58% to settle at 3.23 and Blink Charging Co (NASDAQ:BLNK) which gained 28.57% to close at 2.2500.
The worst performers were Avalon Globocare Corp (NASDAQ:AVCO) which was down 63.35% to 4.600 in late trade, Bellerophon Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:BLPH) which lost 23.91% to settle at 0.670 and Internet Gold Golden Lines Ltd (NASDAQ:IGLD) which was down 22.85% to 0.64 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1533 to 1473 and 125 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1380 fell and 1228 advanced, while 93 ended unchanged.
Shares in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) rose to all time highs; rising 12.69% or 25.85 to 229.51. Shares in Internet Gold Golden Lines Ltd (NASDAQ:IGLD) fell to 5-year lows; down 22.85% or 0.19 to 0.64.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.15% to 19.52.
Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.11% or 1.35 to $1282.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 0.70% or 0.37 to hit $52.64 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.57% or 0.35 to trade at $61.15 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.19% to 1.1380, while USD/JPY rose 0.21% to 109.59.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.17% at 95.795.