U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.94%

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 added 0.94% to hit a new all time high, while the index added 0.65%, and the index gained 0.90%.

The best performers of the session on the were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:), which rose 4.36% or 12.69 points to trade at 303.48 at the close. Meanwhile, Nike Inc (NYSE:) added 2.98% or 2.98 points to end at 103.00 and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:) was up 2.79% or 1.48 points to 54.47 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:), which fell 2.35% or 2.00 points to trade at 83.25 at the close. The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:) declined 1.22% or 1.67 points to end at 135.71 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:) was down 0.92% or 0.35 points to 37.74.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Interpublic Group of Companies Inc (NYSE:) which rose 7.44% to 24.98, Anthem Inc (NYSE:) which was up 5.75% to settle at 296.00 and Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:) which gained 4.80% to close at 23.48.

The worst performers were Western Union Company (NYSE:) which was down 7.47% to 26.13 in late trade, ABIOMED Inc (NASDAQ:) which lost 5.05% to settle at 166.94 and Amcor (NYSE:) which was down 4.56% to 10.47 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Gemphire Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 104.08% to 30.00, Canaan Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 82.73% to settle at 8.04 and Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 27.19% to close at 0.2900.

The worst performers were Zosano Pharma Corp (NASDAQ:) which was down 48.44% to 0.531 in late trade, Polarityte Inc (NASDAQ:) which lost 47.17% to settle at 1.68 and Lianluo Smart Ltd (NASDAQ:) which was down 44.00% to 0.7392 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1784 to 996 and 102 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1596 rose and 1017 declined, while 92 ended unchanged.

Shares in Interpublic Group of Companies Inc (NYSE:) rose to 52-week highs; rising 7.44% or 1.73 to 24.98. Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:) rose to all time highs; gaining 4.36% or 12.69 to 303.48. Shares in Zosano Pharma Corp (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; losing 48.44% or 0.499 to 0.531. Shares in Polarityte Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to 5-year lows; losing 47.17% or 1.50 to 1.68.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 9.49% to 13.74.

Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.06% or 1.00 to $1569.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 3.50% or 1.75 to hit $51.69 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.16% or 0.09 to trade at $56.28 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.03% to 1.0875, while USD/JPY rose 0.00% to 110.08.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.29% at 98.882.

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