U.S. shares mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.13%

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

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.13%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.12%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.22%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL ), which rose 2.47% or 3.60 points to trade at 149.24 at the close. Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO ) added 2.31% or 1.27 points to end at 56.29 and Honeywell International Inc (NASDAQ: HON ) was up 1.65% or 3.69 points to 227.77 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Chevron Corp (NYSE: CVX ), which lost 1.89% or 1.96 points to trade at 101.97 in late trade. Boeing Co (NYSE: BA ) declined 1.69% or 3.86 points to end at 224.34 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT ) shed 1.65% or 3.54 points to 211.65.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Jefferies Financial Group Inc (NYSE: JEF ) which rose 5.40% to 33.65, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC ) which was up 4.03% to settle at 44.97 and Perrigo Company PLC (NYSE: PRGO ) which gained 3.15% to close at 47.46.

The worst performers were Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: OXY ) which was down 7.48% to 27.83 in late trade, Cimarex Energy Co (NYSE: XEC ) which lost 6.17% to settle at 69.02 and Diamondback Energy Inc (NASDAQ: FANG ) which was down 6.09% to 84.56 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were SGOCO Group Ltd (NASDAQ: SGOC ) which rose 36.33% to 13.074, Datasea Inc (NASDAQ: DTSS ) which was up 34.81% to settle at 3.950 and Bon Natural Life Ltd (NASDAQ: BON ) which gained 33.26% to close at 11.86.

The worst performers were Allena Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: ALNA ) which was down 35.47% to 0.8969 in late trade, Allied Healthcare Products Inc (NASDAQ: AHPI ) which lost 31.13% to settle at 6.240 and Antelope Enterprise Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ: AEHL ) which was down 25.75% to 2.970 at the close.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1904 to 1253 and 119 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2493 fell and 997 advanced, while 129 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.

The CBOE Volatility Index , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.61% to 16.33.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 1.03% or 18.65 to $1828.55 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 3.26% or 2.45 to hit $72.80 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 2.56% or 1.96 to trade at $74.53 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.54% to 1.1838, while USD/JPY fell 0.59% to 109.96.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.43% at 92.358.