U.S. stocks mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.31%

(C) Reuters. U.S. stocks mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.31%

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

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.31%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.23%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.13%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW), which rose 2.64% or 1.44 points to trade at 55.92 at the close. Meanwhile, Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) added 1.52% or 2.61 points to end at 174.52 and Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) was up 1.14% or 2.92 points to 259.09 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which fell 2.04% or 0.80 points to trade at 38.59 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) declined 2.24% or 4.71 points to end at 205.34 and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) was down 1.91% or 1.66 points to 85.38.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Helmerich and Payne Inc (NYSE:HP) which rose 6.17% to 20.13, Coty Inc (NYSE:COTY) which was up 6.07% to settle at 5.42 and Diamondback Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FANG) which gained 4.64% to close at 39.04.

The worst performers were Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW) which was down 7.11% to 148.50 in late trade, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NCLH) which lost 6.71% to settle at 20.58 and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (NYSE:TMO) which was down 4.45% to 457.69 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Kazia Therapeutics Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:KZIA) which rose 51.52% to 14.97, Naked Brand Group Ltd (NASDAQ:NAKD) which was up 54.55% to settle at 0.136 and BELLUS Health Inc (NASDAQ:BLU) which gained 31.80% to close at 3.15.

The worst performers were CBAK Energy Technology Inc (NASDAQ:CBAT) which was down 35.46% to 6.2800 in late trade, Paysign Inc (NASDAQ:PAYS) which lost 31.92% to settle at 4.18 and Oncternal Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ONCT) which was down 30.07% to 2.90 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1479 to 1421 and 105 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1392 fell and 1387 advanced, while 74 ended unchanged.

Shares in Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 2.64% or 1.44 to 55.92. Shares in Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) rose to all time highs; up 1.52% or 2.61 to 174.52. Shares in Kazia Therapeutics Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:KZIA) rose to 5-year highs; up 51.52% or 5.09 to 14.97.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.35% to 22.63.

Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.76% or 14.25 to $1870.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 1.06% or 0.44 to hit $42.09 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 1.62% or 0.71 to trade at $44.46 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.04% to 1.1865, while USD/JPY fell 0.32% to 103.83.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.10% at 92.302.