U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.25%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Utilities, Basic Materials and Oil&Gas sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.25%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.56%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.59%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which rose 1.27% or 2.54 points to trade at 203.06 at the close. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 1.12% or 5.79 points to end at 524.94 and Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) was up 0.84% or 2.25 points to 271.44 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which fell 3.06% or 0.70 points to trade at 22.17 at the close. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) declined 2.99% or 8.60 points to end at 278.63 and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) was down 2.91% or 2.71 points to 90.34.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Johnson Controls International PLC (NYSE:JCI) which rose 3.49% to 54.23, PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) which was up 2.48% to settle at 59.90 and CME Group Inc (NASDAQ:CME) which gained 2.20% to close at 202.97.

The worst performers were Albemarle Corp (NYSE:ALB) which was down 4.17% to 120.70 in late trade, Boston Properties Inc (NYSE:BXP) which lost 3.68% to settle at 66.92 and Wynn Resorts Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN) which was down 3.60% to 91.16 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp IV (NASDAQ:MCAF) which rose 77.50% to 22.01, Fitell Corp (NASDAQ:FTEL) which was up 34.34% to settle at 1.33 and WANG&LEE GROUP Inc (NASDAQ:WLGS) which gained 32.65% to close at 0.78.

The worst performers were Roma Green Finance Ltd (NASDAQ:ROMA) which was down 70.84% to 1.14 in late trade, Phunware Inc (NASDAQ:PHUN) which lost 61.29% to settle at 0.16 and DatChat Inc (NASDAQ:DATS) which was down 49.37% to 1.61 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2148 to 722 and 73 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2197 fell and 1228 advanced, while 116 ended unchanged.

Shares in Roma Green Finance Ltd (NASDAQ:ROMA) fell to all time lows; losing 70.84% or 2.77 to 1.14. Shares in DatChat Inc (NASDAQ:DATS) fell to all time lows; losing 49.37% or 1.57 to 1.61.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 6.86% to 14.79 a new 1-month high.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 1.05% or 21.35 to $2,008.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.21% or 0.15 to hit $72.67 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.34% or 0.27 to trade at $78.02 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.07% to 1.09, while USD/JPY rose 0.69% to 148.20.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.04% at 103.15.