U.S. stocks mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.02%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Consumer Goods sectors led shares higher while losses in the Telecoms, Utilities and Healthcare sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.02%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.47%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.94%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which rose 4.06% or 2.98 points to trade at 76.39 at the close. Meanwhile, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) added 2.58% or 3.95 points to end at 157.25 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 2.22% or 4.62 points to 212.44 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Unitedhealth Group (NYSE:UNH), which fell 5.70% or 18.58 points to trade at 307.56 at the close. Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) declined 3.58% or 9.57 points to end at 257.43 and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was down 1.22% or 3.55 points to 287.65.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Albemarle Corp (NYSE:ALB) which rose 8.09% to 67.99, Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) which was up 5.54% to settle at 30.28 and Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) which gained 5.04% to close at 229.99.

The worst performers were Centene Corp (NYSE:CNC) which was down 40.34% to 33.80 in late trade, Molina Healthcare Inc (NYSE:MOH) which lost 21.97% to settle at 239.00 and Elevance Health Inc (NYSE:ELV) which was down 11.50% to 350.25 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Sonnet Biotherapeutics Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:SONN) which rose 243.79% to 4.16, Mogo Inc (NASDAQ:MOGO) which was up 111.57% to settle at 2.56 and Blue Gold Ltd (NASDAQ:BGL) which gained 84.85% to close at 133.00.

The worst performers were Mustang Bio Inc (NASDAQ:MBIO) which was down 39.51% to 1.24 in late trade, BioNexus Gene Lab Corp (NASDAQ:BGLC) which lost 38.78% to settle at 6.82 and LA Rosa Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:LRHC) which was down 36.73% to 0.08 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2000 to 785 and 54 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2268 rose and 1037 declined, while 154 ended unchanged.

Shares in Centene Corp (NYSE:CNC) fell to 5-year lows; down 40.34% or 22.86 to 33.80. Shares in Molina Healthcare Inc (NYSE:MOH) fell to 3-years lows; down 21.97% or 67.29 to 239.00. Shares in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) rose to all time highs; gaining 5.04% or 11.03 to 229.99. Shares in Elevance Health Inc (NYSE:ELV) fell to 3-years lows; falling 11.50% or 45.51 to 350.25. Shares in Mogo Inc (NASDAQ:MOGO) rose to 52-week highs; rising 111.57% or 1.35 to 2.56. Shares in Blue Gold Ltd (NASDAQ:BGL) rose to all time highs; up 84.85% or 61.05 to 133.00. Shares in LA Rosa Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:LRHC) fell to all time lows; falling 36.73% or 0.05 to 0.08.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.07% to 16.65.

Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.57% or 19.00 to $3,368.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 3.03% or 1.98 to hit $67.43 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 2.89% or 1.94 to trade at $69.05 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.05% to 1.18, while USD/JPY rose 0.17% to 143.67.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.02% at 96.44.