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

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 gained 0.31% to hit a new all time high, while the index gained 0.19%, and the index climbed 0.08%.

The best performers of the session on the were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:), which rose 2.83% or 8.17 points to trade at 296.41 at the close. Meanwhile, Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:) added 1.91% or 3.75 points to end at 199.80 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:) was up 1.79% or 1.61 points to 91.54 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:), which fell 1.50% or 2.08 points to trade at 136.72 at the close. 3M Company (NYSE:) declined 0.88% or 1.59 points to end at 179.78 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:) was down 0.82% or 0.49 points to 58.94.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Coty Inc (NYSE:) which rose 6.26% to 11.37, Nielsen Holdings PLC (NYSE:) which was up 5.34% to settle at 21.51 and Mylan NV (NASDAQ:) which gained 4.01% to close at 22.05.

The worst performers were Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:) which was down 15.99% to 23.49 in late trade, Target Corporation (NYSE:) which lost 6.59% to settle at 117.00 and Align Technology Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 4.70% to 274.10 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Reebonz Holding Ltd (NASDAQ:) which rose 67.27% to 1.84, Cemtrex Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 54.24% to settle at 1.8200 and OrganiGram Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 45.37% to close at 3.1400.

The worst performers were Estre USA Inc Class A (NASDAQ:) which was down 46.72% to 0.32 in late trade, Inpixon (NASDAQ:) which lost 28.32% to settle at 4.0500 and Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:) which was down 15.99% to 23.49 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1621 to 1177 and 113 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1461 rose and 1174 declined, while 89 ended unchanged.

Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:) rose to all time highs; up 2.83% or 8.17 to 296.41. Shares in Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:) rose to all time highs; gaining 1.91% or 3.75 to 199.80.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.24% to 12.42.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.77% or 11.95 to $1556.55 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.24% or 0.14 to hit $58.09 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.09% or 0.06 to trade at $64.24 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.03% to 1.1152, while USD/JPY fell 0.00% to 109.88.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.15% at 96.947.

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