U.S. stocks mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.24%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Healthcare and Telecoms sectors led shares higher while losses in the Industrials, Technology and Consumer Services sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.24%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.25%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 1.07%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Johnson&Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which rose 4.49% or 7.12 points to trade at 165.61 at the close. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 3.24% or 15.98 points to end at 509.23 and Merck&Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 2.83% or 3.08 points to 111.91 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which fell 2.26% or 2.79 points to trade at 120.90 at the close. Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) declined 2.13% or 6.29 points to end at 288.67 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was down 1.82% or 3.90 points to 210.00.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) which rose 6.26% to 104.43, Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) which was up 6.01% to settle at 135.09 and Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC) which gained 5.48% to close at 132.71.

The worst performers were MarketAxess Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MKTX) which was down 13.91% to 337.74 in late trade, Signature Bank (OTC:SBNY) which lost 8.93% to settle at 0.15 and Caesars Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ:CZR) which was down 6.18% to 45.82 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Jowell Global Ltd. (NASDAQ:JWEL) which rose 146.47% to 0.42, Liminal BioSciences Inc (NASDAQ:LMNL) which was up 85.64% to settle at 6.72 and InflaRx N.V. (NASDAQ:IFRX) which gained 61.80% to close at 6.10.

The worst performers were Secoo Holding Ltd (NASDAQ:SECO) which was down 39.69% to 0.88 in late trade, BullFrog AI Holdings Inc Unit (NASDAQ:BFRG) which lost 32.00% to settle at 4.08 and Guardforce AI Co Ltd (NASDAQ:GFAI) which was down 31.56% to 8.89 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1879 to 1097 and 91 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2447 fell and 1163 advanced, while 161 ended unchanged.

Shares in InflaRx N.V. (NASDAQ:IFRX) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 61.80% or 2.33 to 6.10.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.42% to 19.08.

Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.04% or 0.90 to $2,037.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.42% or 0.34 to hit $80.37 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 0.21% or 0.18 to trade at $84.76 a barrel.

EUR/USD was down 0.46% to 1.09, while USD/JPY fell 0.26% to 131.35.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.34% at 101.61.