U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.63%

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

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.63% to hit a new 3-months high, while the S&P 500 index gained 2.13%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 2.89%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which rose 3.98% or 4.30 points to trade at 112.43 at the close. Meanwhile, Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) added 3.50% or 6.37 points to end at 188.61 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) was up 3.35% or 11.29 points to 347.91 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Merck&Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which fell 0.37% or 0.33 points to trade at 89.19 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 0.09% or 0.46 points to end at 537.72 and Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) was up 0.21% or 0.27 points to 129.14.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NCLH) which rose 11.82% to 13.53, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) which was up 9.74% to settle at 41.67 and Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) which gained 9.19% to close at 10.34.

The worst performers were CME Group Inc (NASDAQ:CME) which was down 2.24% to 198.40 in late trade, Dollar Tree Inc (NASDAQ:DLTR) which lost 1.76% to settle at 165.97 and Ralph Lauren Corp Class A (NYSE:RL) which was down 1.29% to 95.52 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Bioatla Inc (NASDAQ:BCAB) which rose 83.10% to 6.61, Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS) which was up 41.92% to settle at 3.25 and Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:INFI) which gained 39.19% to close at 1.03.

The worst performers were Redbox Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:RDBX) which was down 52.86% to 1.65 in late trade, OPTIMIZERx Corp (NASDAQ:OPRX) which lost 30.02% to settle at 15.57 and IsoPlexis Corp (NASDAQ:ISO) which was down 30.00% to 2.10 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2666 to 462 and 109 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2955 rose and 830 declined, while 199 ended unchanged.

Shares in Redbox Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:RDBX) fell to all time lows; falling 52.86% or 1.85 to 1.65. Shares in OPTIMIZERx Corp (NASDAQ:OPRX) fell to 52-week lows; falling 30.02% or 6.68 to 15.57.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 9.32% to 19.74 a new 3-months low.

Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.28% or 5.10 to $1,807.20 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 1.14% or 1.03 to hit $91.53 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.74% or 0.71 to trade at $97.02 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.88% to 1.03, while USD/JPY fell 1.64% to 132.91.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 1.09% at 105.10.