U.S. shares mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.31%

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

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.31%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.07%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.27%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE: TRV ), which rose 3.70% or 6.89 points to trade at 193.25 at the close. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ ) added 1.99% or 0.79 points to end at 40.42 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT ) was up 1.94% or 4.91 points to 257.61 in late trade.

Biggest losers included 3M Company (NYSE: MMM ), which lost 6.21% or 7.62 points to trade at 115.00 in late trade. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ: WBA ) declined 2.10% or 0.77 points to end at 35.90 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE: MRK ) shed 1.24% or 1.36 points to 108.52.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were PACCAR Inc (NASDAQ: PCAR ) which rose 8.64% to 111.08, The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE: TRV ) which was up 3.70% to settle at 193.25 and Raytheon Technologies Corp (NYSE: RTX ) which gained 3.35% to close at 99.47.

The worst performers were 3M Company (NYSE: MMM ) which was down 6.21% to 115.00 in late trade, Catalent Inc (NYSE: CTLT ) which lost 5.74% to settle at 49.57 and Brown & Brown Inc (NYSE: BRO ) which was down 5.28% to 58.69 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Esports Entertainment Group Inc (NASDAQ: GMBL ) which rose 88.10% to 0.16, bioAffinity Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: BIAF ) which was up 74.38% to settle at 2.79 and Grom Social Enterprises Inc (NASDAQ: GROM ) which gained 44.14% to close at 3.20.

The worst performers were VERB TECHNOLOGY COMPANY INC (NASDAQ: VERB ) which was down 47.63% to 0.20 in late trade, LogicMark Inc (NASDAQ: LGMK ) which lost 37.02% to settle at 0.23 and Scilex Holding Co (NASDAQ: SCLX ) which was down 31.30% to 6.54 at the close.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1591 to 1472 and 131 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2021 fell and 1657 advanced, while 218 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.

The CBOE Volatility Index , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.08% to 19.20.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.51% or 9.75 to $1,938.35 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 1.84% or 1.50 to hit $80.12 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 2.27% or 2.00 to trade at $86.19 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.15% to 1.09, while USD/JPY fell 0.39% to 130.15.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.21% at 101.70.