U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.11%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Consumer Services, Industrials and Consumer Goods sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.11%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.28%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.92%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 1.78% or 4.34 points to trade at 248.70 at the close. Meanwhile, Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) added 1.57% or 0.75 points to end at 48.45 and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) was up 1.47% or 1.58 points to 109.24 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Johnson&Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which fell 1.65% or 2.67 points to trade at 159.37 at the close. Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) declined 1.05% or 1.80 points to end at 169.01 and Merck&Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was down 0.97% or 1.06 points to 107.68.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Paramount Global Class B (NASDAQ:PARA) which rose 9.31% to 24.54, SolarEdge Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:SEDG) which was up 9.05% to settle at 343.98 and Generac Holdings Inc (NYSE:GNRC) which gained 7.95% to close at 135.17.

The worst performers were Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) which was down 10.50% to 57.23 in late trade, Akamai Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:AKAM) which lost 10.41% to settle at 78.65 and Pioneer Natural Resources Co (NYSE:PXD) which was down 5.52% to 220.81 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Tenon Medical Inc (NASDAQ:TNON) which rose 120.20% to 2.18, Titan Medical Inc (NASDAQ:TMDI) which was up 82.16% to settle at 0.25 and Sera Prognostics Inc (NASDAQ:SERA) which gained 73.28% to close at 2.27.

The worst performers were GlycoMimetics Inc (NASDAQ:GLYC) which was down 62.47% to 1.52 in late trade, Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd (NASDAQ:CRDO) which lost 46.80% to settle at 10.30 and T2 Biosystms Inc (NASDAQ:TTOO) which was down 23.19% to 0.83 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1735 to 1276 and 115 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2408 rose and 1276 declined, while 158 ended unchanged.

Shares in T2 Biosystms Inc (NASDAQ:TTOO) fell to all time lows; losing 23.19% or 0.25 to 0.83.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.60% to 18.23.

Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.94% or 17.50 to $1,847.90 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 0.68% or 0.54 to hit $78.52 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 0.43% or 0.37 to trade at $85.21 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.42% to 1.07, while USD/JPY rose 0.76% to 134.13.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.61% at 103.75.