U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.24%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Financials, Oil&Gas and Industrials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.24%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 1.19%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 1.28%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD), which rose 3.56% or 10.06 points to trade at 292.39 at the close. Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase&Co (NYSE:JPM) added 3.08% or 4.14 points to end at 138.46 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was up 2.99% or 6.00 points to 206.87 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which fell 1.20% or 0.35 points to trade at 28.87 at the close. Merck&Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) declined 1.14% or 1.32 points to end at 114.76 and Procter&Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was down 0.42% or 0.65 points to 155.09.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Comerica Inc (NYSE:CMA) which rose 12.39% to 38.11, Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) which was up 12.08% to settle at 26.17 and Signature Bank (OTC:SBNY) which gained 9.43% to close at 0.13.

The worst performers were Aon PLC (NYSE:AON) which was down 2.63% to 322.22 in late trade, Everest Re Group Ltd (NYSE:RE) which lost 2.41% to settle at 369.29 and Illumina Inc (NASDAQ:ILMN) which was down 2.20% to 197.48 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Immutep Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:IMMP) which rose 64.78% to 2.62, National Western Life Insurance Co (NASDAQ:NWLI) which was up 46.32% to settle at 391.10 and Smart for Life Inc (NASDAQ:SMFL) which gained 44.40% to close at 3.35.

The worst performers were Arqit Quantum Inc (NASDAQ:ARQQ) which was down 34.03% to 0.73 in late trade, CISO Global Inc (NASDAQ:CISO) which lost 33.30% to settle at 0.20 and ASP Isotopes Inc (NASDAQ:ASPI) which was down 28.89% to 0.32 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2251 to 713 and 81 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2602 rose and 978 declined, while 123 ended unchanged.

Shares in Arqit Quantum Inc (NASDAQ:ARQQ) fell to all time lows; falling 34.03% or 0.37 to 0.73. Shares in National Western Life Insurance Co (NASDAQ:NWLI) rose to all time highs; rising 46.32% or 123.81 to 391.10. Shares in ASP Isotopes Inc (NASDAQ:ASPI) fell to all time lows; falling 28.89% or 0.13 to 0.32.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.23% to 16.87.

Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.32% or 6.40 to $1,986.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 2.58% or 1.83 to hit $72.69 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 2.55% or 1.91 to trade at $76.82 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.23% to 1.08, while USD/JPY rose 0.92% to 137.64.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.30% at 102.71.