U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.76%

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

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.76%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.80%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 1.18%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX), which rose 1.94% or 2.90 points to trade at 152.38 at the close. Meanwhile, Merck&Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) added 1.35% or 1.53 points to end at 114.77 and Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN) was up 1.11% or 3.30 points to 300.69 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which fell 4.05% or 1.08 points to trade at 25.57 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) declined 3.10% or 7.80 points to end at 243.96 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) was down 2.84% or 8.31 points to 284.40.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) which rose 4.29% to 617.63, Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC) which was up 3.62% to settle at 157.87 and EOG Resources Inc (NYSE:EOG) which gained 2.78% to close at 124.98.

The worst performers were Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ:PODD) which was down 6.91% to 194.66 in late trade, Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) which lost 6.89% to settle at 305.97 and Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH) which was down 6.56% to 122.63 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Neximmune Inc (NASDAQ:NEXI) which rose 153.06% to 6.20, MMTEC Inc (NASDAQ:MTC) which was up 86.60% to settle at 1.81 and Sidus Space Inc (NASDAQ:SIDU) which gained 67.00% to close at 11.64.

The worst performers were E-Home Household Service Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:EJH) which was down 61.26% to 1.48 in late trade, Infobird Co Ltd (NASDAQ:IFBD) which lost 43.48% to settle at 0.78 and Riskon International Inc (NASDAQ:ROI) which was down 35.93% to 0.29 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2080 to 803 and 50 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2527 fell and 928 advanced, while 64 ended unchanged.

Shares in Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC) rose to all time highs; rising 3.62% or 5.51 to 157.87. Shares in Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN) rose to all time highs; gaining 1.11% or 3.30 to 300.69. Shares in Infobird Co Ltd (NASDAQ:IFBD) fell to all time lows; losing 43.48% or 0.60 to 0.78.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 6.36% to 14.04 a new 1-month high.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 1.15% or 23.80 to $2,049.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 3.48% or 2.45 to hit $72.83 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 3.19% or 2.42 to trade at $78.31 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.22% to 1.09, while USD/JPY rose 0.89% to 143.24.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.26% at 102.15.