U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.49%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Technology, Utilities and Industrials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.49%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.61%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.95%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which rose 3.66% or 8.00 points to trade at 226.52 at the close. Meanwhile, Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) added 2.88% or 2.34 points to end at 83.71 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) was up 2.03% or 8.00 points to 402.29 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Unitedhealth Group (NYSE:UNH), which fell 1.56% or 4.79 points to trade at 302.91 at the close. Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) declined 1.08% or 0.76 points to end at 69.48 and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) was down 1.05% or 0.45 points to 42.61.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) which rose 19.78% to 13.26, PTC Inc (NASDAQ:PTC) which was up 17.65% to settle at 210.47 and DR Horton Inc (NYSE:DHI) which gained 5.36% to close at 138.41.

The worst performers were Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) which was down 6.54% to 1,591.73 in late trade, Hershey Co (NYSE:HSY) which lost 4.70% to settle at 161.95 and Monster Beverage Corp (NASDAQ:MNST) which was down 3.33% to 59.54 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were SU Group Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:SUGP) which rose 171.41% to 1.22, Evoke Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:EVOK) which was up 162.77% to settle at 6.99 and Basel Medical Group (NASDAQ:BMGL) which gained 98.90% to close at 3.62.

The worst performers were Park Ha Biological Technology Co (NASDAQ:PHH) which was down 63.21% to 1.10 in late trade, Rxsight Inc (NASDAQ:RXST) which lost 37.84% to settle at 7.95 and Blue Gold Ltd (NASDAQ:BGL) which was down 31.45% to 37.29 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1729 to 1033 and 82 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2079 rose and 1227 declined, while 157 ended unchanged.

Shares in PTC Inc (NASDAQ:PTC) rose to all time highs; gaining 17.65% or 31.57 to 210.47. Shares in Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) rose to 52-week highs; up 3.66% or 8.00 to 226.52. Shares in Park Ha Biological Technology Co (NASDAQ:PHH) fell to all time lows; falling 63.21% or 1.89 to 1.10. Shares in Rxsight Inc (NASDAQ:RXST) fell to all time lows; losing 37.84% or 4.84 to 7.95.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 5.18% to 15.94 a new 3-months low.

Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.11% or 3.70 to $3,320.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August unchanged 0.00% or 0.00 to hit $68.33 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract unchanged 0.00% or 0.00 to trade at $70.15 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.11% to 1.17, while USD/JPY fell 0.11% to 146.46.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.05% at 97.22.