U.S. stocks mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.26%

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

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.26%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.08%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.36%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX), which rose 2.00% or 2.84 points to trade at 144.93 at the close. Meanwhile, Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) added 1.25% or 2.65 points to end at 214.15 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was up 0.92% or 3.66 points to 402.56 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were 3M Company (NYSE:MMM), which fell 3.51% or 3.37 points to trade at 92.73 at the close. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) declined 2.23% or 0.94 points to end at 41.29 and Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) was down 1.57% or 0.94 points to 58.91.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) which rose 10.70% to 544.87, Textron Inc (NYSE:TXT) which was up 7.92% to settle at 85.61 and TE Connectivity Ltd (NYSE:TEL) which gained 6.74% to close at 143.72.

The worst performers were Dupont De Nemours Inc (NYSE:DD) which was down 14.04% to 64.20 in late trade, Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) which lost 5.55% to settle at 118.01 and Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY) which was down 5.36% to 418.31 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Evaxion Biotech AS (NASDAQ:EVAX) which rose 113.43% to 10.65, VS Media Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:VSME) which was up 97.87% to settle at 0.65 and Scisparc Ltd (NASDAQ:SPRC) which gained 78.03% to close at 6.16.

The worst performers were Richtech Robotics Inc (NASDAQ:RR) which was down 32.43% to 7.50 in late trade, 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SXTP) which lost 24.99% to settle at 0.60 and Digital World Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:DWAC) which was down 24.83% to 38.15 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1629 to 1228 and 82 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1980 fell and 1458 advanced, while 96 ended unchanged.

Shares in Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) rose to 52-week highs; rising 10.70% or 52.68 to 544.87. Shares in Textron Inc (NYSE:TXT) rose to all time highs; rising 7.92% or 6.28 to 85.61. Shares in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) rose to all time highs; up 0.92% or 3.66 to 402.56.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 4.70% to 13.14.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.63% or 12.80 to $2,013.00 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 1.30% or 0.97 to hit $75.34 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.91% or 0.72 to trade at $80.27 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.29% to 1.09, while USD/JPY fell 0.52% to 147.59.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.31% at 103.08.