U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.56%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the , and sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the rose 0.56%, while the index climbed 0.49%, and the index climbed 0.67%.

The best performers of the session on the were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:), which rose 2.11% or 6.11 points to trade at 295.90 at the close. Meanwhile, American Express Company (NYSE:) added 1.73% or 2.13 points to end at 125.54 and Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:) was up 1.71% or 3.23 points to 191.92 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:), which fell 5.84% or 3.46 points to trade at 55.83 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE:) declined 1.75% or 5.91 points to end at 331.37 and Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:) was down 1.51% or 1.06 points to 69.23.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Constellation Brands Inc Class A (NYSE:) which rose 3.64% to 190.29, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 3.26% to settle at 231.09 and Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (NYSE:) which gained 2.77% to close at 173.84.

The worst performers were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 5.84% to 55.83 in late trade, Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE:) which lost 3.82% to settle at 16.85 and Phillips 66 (NYSE:) which was down 3.74% to 104.10 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were ShiftPixy Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 138.54% to 19.25, Midatech Pharma PLC ADR (NASDAQ:) which was up 52.65% to settle at 1.040 and Toughbuilt Industries Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 46.31% to close at 0.40.

The worst performers were Genetic Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:) which was down 27.72% to 3.260 in late trade, Zion Oil & Gas Inc (NASDAQ:) which lost 24.14% to settle at 0.294 and Apex Global Brands Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 22.55% to 0.79 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1627 to 1182 and 94 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1536 rose and 1117 declined, while 76 ended unchanged.

Shares in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:) rose to all time highs; rising 3.26% or 7.30 to 231.09. Shares in Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:) rose to all time highs; gaining 1.71% or 3.23 to 191.92. Shares in ShiftPixy Inc (NASDAQ:) rose to all time highs; up 138.54% or 11.18 to 19.25.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.47% to 13.45.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 1.05% or 16.60 to $1557.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 4.34% or 2.72 to hit $59.98 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.03% or 0.02 to trade at $65.86 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.05% to 1.1109, while USD/JPY fell 0.03% to 109.08.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.35% at 97.037.

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