U.S. shares higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.23%

Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities , Technology and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.23%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.36%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.35%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH ), which rose 1.99% or 10.05 points to trade at 515.29 at the close. Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ: CSCO ) added 1.74% or 0.73 points to end at 42.69 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE: TRV ) was up 1.61% or 2.70 points to 169.90 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ: WBA ), which lost 1.90% or 0.73 points to trade at 37.78 in late trade. Chevron Corp (NYSE: CVX ) declined 1.32% or 1.88 points to end at 140.78 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS ) shed 1.16% or 3.44 points to 293.76.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC ) which rose 3.77% to 481.87, L3Harris Technologies Inc (NYSE: LHX ) which was up 3.74% to settle at 239.60 and WW Grainger Inc (NYSE: GWW ) which gained 3.28% to close at 470.12.

The worst performers were Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NYSE: NCLH ) which was down 9.55% to 11.27 in late trade, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE: RCL ) which lost 7.19% to settle at 33.69 and Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL ) which was down 6.82% to 8.74 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Inspira Technologies Oxy BHN Ltd (NASDAQ: IINN ) which rose 76.61% to 2.19, Waitr Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: WTRH ) which was up 73.24% to settle at 0.27 and Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: TTNP ) which gained 48.76% to close at 0.90.

The worst performers were Kornit Digital Ltd (NASDAQ: KRNT ) which was down 25.67% to 23.46 in late trade, Applied Molecular Transport Inc (NASDAQ: AMTI ) which lost 25.64% to settle at 2.32 and Nuwellis Inc (NASDAQ: NUWE ) which was down 23.33% to 0.69 at the close.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1957 to 1211 and 142 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2165 fell and 1614 advanced, while 237 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.

The CBOE Volatility Index , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.94% to 26.73.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was down 1.48% or 26.15 to $1,737.75 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 1.07% or 1.06 to hit $98.44 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 2.36% or 2.43 to trade at $100.34 a barrel.

EUR/USD was down 0.80% to 1.02, while USD/JPY fell 0.00% to 135.87.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.52% at 106.88.