U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.38%

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

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.38%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.20%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.18%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which rose 1.17% or 2.46 points to trade at 213.38 at the close. Meanwhile, Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) added 1.04% or 2.20 points to end at 213.85 and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) was up 0.83% or 0.24 points to 29.26 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which fell 3.30% or 1.11 points to trade at 32.51 at the close. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) declined 2.51% or 2.54 points to end at 98.60 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) was down 2.00% or 6.53 points to 320.08.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were PG&E Corp (NYSE:PCG) which rose 3.18% to 17.83, Fidelity National Information Services Inc (NYSE:FIS) which was up 3.10% to settle at 59.80 and SBA Communications Corp (NASDAQ:SBAC) which gained 2.97% to close at 240.97.

The worst performers were Generac Holdings Inc (NYSE:GNRC) which was down 8.05% to 138.48 in late trade, Las Vegas Sands Corp (NYSE:LVS) which lost 5.68% to settle at 55.26 and Qorvo Inc (NASDAQ:QRVO) which was down 5.36% to 97.59 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Mullen Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:MULN) which rose 69.38% to 0.17, BioXcel Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:BTAI) which was up 42.26% to settle at 11.21 and Impel Neuropharma Inc (NASDAQ:IMPL) which gained 36.35% to close at 1.70.

The worst performers were Connexa Sports Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:CNXA) which was down 22.26% to 0.21 in late trade, Canopy Growth Corp (NASDAQ:CGC) which lost 22.19% to settle at 0.46 and AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) which was down 19.09% to 2.84 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2066 to 895 and 82 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2276 fell and 1287 advanced, while 107 ended unchanged.

Shares in PG&E Corp (NYSE:PCG) rose to 3-years highs; up 3.18% or 0.55 to 17.83.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 3.50% to 14.18.

Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.33% or 6.40 to $1,923.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 3.05% or 2.13 to hit $71.92 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.55% or 0.42 to trade at $76.67 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.20% to 1.09, while USD/JPY rose 0.16% to 144.68.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.37% at 103.03.