Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Oil & Gas, Utilities and Consumer Goods sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.59%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.55%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.47%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which rose 2.01% or 0.36 points to trade at 18.26 at the close. Meanwhile, Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) added 1.16% or 0.65 points to end at 56.63 and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) was up 0.95% or 0.92 points to 98.19 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which fell 2.50% or 3.44 points to trade at 134.10 at the close. Visa Inc (NYSE:V) declined 1.54% or 1.73 points to end at 110.25 and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) was down 1.54% or 2.59 points to 165.47.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Alaska Air Group Inc (NYSE:ALK) which rose 4.47% to 64.44, Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) which was up 4.00% to settle at 31.20 and Discovery Communications C Inc (NASDAQ:DISCK) which gained 3.14% to close at 15.75.
The worst performers were Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) which was down 9.87% to 54.16 in late trade, Advance Auto Parts Inc (NYSE:AAP) which lost 4.33% to settle at 91.58 and General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS) which was down 2.93% to 52.53 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were CHF Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:CHFS) which rose 337.67% to 16.500, SemiLEDS Corporation (NASDAQ:LEDS) which was up 128.54% to settle at 6.3900 and Quest Resource Holding Corp (NASDAQ:QRHC) which gained 73.50% to close at 2.0300.
The worst performers were Alcobra Ltd (NASDAQ:ADHD) which was up 4.29% to 1.46 in late trade, Netlist Inc (NASDAQ:NLST) which lost 52.64% to settle at 0.308 and Medovex Corp (NASDAQ:MDVX) which was down 42.55% to 0.540 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1998 to 1098 and 126 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1517 fell and 1013 advanced, while 131 ended unchanged.
Shares in SemiLEDS Corporation (NASDAQ:LEDS) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 128.54% or 3.5940 to 6.3900. Shares in Netlist Inc (NASDAQ:NLST) fell to 52-week lows; down 52.64% or 0.342 to 0.308. Shares in Medovex Corp (NASDAQ:MDVX) fell to all time lows; down 42.55% or 0.400 to 0.540.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 13.46% to 13.15 a new 1-month high.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.30% or 3.85 to $1279.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 0.83% or 0.46 to hit $55.24 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 0.59% or 0.37 to trade at $61.84 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.06% to 1.1790, while USD/JPY fell 0.53% to 112.85.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.01% at 93.73.