U.S. stocks mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.31%

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

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.31%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.07%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.27%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV), which rose 3.65% or 6.81 points to trade at 193.17 at the close. Meanwhile, Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) added 1.97% or 0.78 points to end at 40.41 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) was up 1.95% or 4.94 points to 257.64 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were 3M Company (NYSE:MMM), which fell 6.16% or 7.55 points to trade at 115.07 at the close. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) declined 2.10% or 0.77 points to end at 35.90 and Merck&Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was down 1.25% or 1.37 points to 108.51.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were PACCAR Inc (NASDAQ:PCAR) which rose 8.64% to 111.08, The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) which was up 3.65% to settle at 193.17 and Raytheon Technologies Corp (NYSE:RTX) which gained 3.35% to close at 99.47.

The worst performers were 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) which was down 6.16% to 115.07 in late trade, Catalent Inc (NYSE:CTLT) which lost 5.76% to settle at 49.56 and Brown&Brown Inc (NYSE:BRO) which was down 5.28% to 58.69 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Esports Entertainment Group Inc (NASDAQ:GMBL) which rose 88.10% to 0.16, bioAffinity Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:BIAF) which was up 74.38% to settle at 2.79 and Grom Social Enterprises Inc (NASDAQ:GROM) which gained 44.14% to close at 3.20.

The worst performers were VERB TECHNOLOGY COMPANY INC (NASDAQ:VERB) which was down 47.63% to 0.20 in late trade, LogicMark Inc (NASDAQ:LGMK) which lost 37.02% to settle at 0.23 and Scilex Holding Co (NASDAQ:SCLX) which was down 31.30% to 6.54 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1573 to 1472 and 117 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2041 fell and 1662 advanced, while 178 ended unchanged.

Shares in PACCAR Inc (NASDAQ:PCAR) rose to all time highs; gaining 8.64% or 8.83 to 111.08. Shares in LogicMark Inc (NASDAQ:LGMK) fell to all time lows; falling 37.02% or 0.14 to 0.23.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.08% to 19.20.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.50% or 9.65 to $1,938.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 1.84% or 1.50 to hit $80.12 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 2.28% or 2.01 to trade at $86.18 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.15% to 1.09, while USD/JPY fell 0.39% to 130.15.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.21% at 101.70.