U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 4.53%

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 4.53%, while the index climbed 4.22%, and the index climbed 3.85%.

The best performers of the session on the were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:), which rose 10.72% or 28.02 points to trade at 289.42 at the close. Meanwhile, American Express Company (NYSE:) added 7.12% or 7.69 points to end at 115.70 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:) was up 6.12% or 2.10 points to 36.40 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Boeing Co (NYSE:), which rose 0.89% or 2.50 points to trade at 283.12 at the close. Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:) added 2.18% or 1.12 points to end at 52.42 and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:) was up 2.34% or 2.73 points to 119.18.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Anthem Inc (NYSE:) which rose 15.62% to 296.42, Centene Corp (NYSE:) which was up 15.60% to settle at 62.46 and Humana Inc (NYSE:) which gained 14.44% to close at 372.34.

The worst performers were Dollar Tree Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 3.56% to 78.91 in late trade, Halliburton Company (NYSE:) which lost 3.51% to settle at 15.39 and The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:) which was down 2.95% to 37.16 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Taronis Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 66.62% to 0.350, Cellect Biotechnology Ltd (NASDAQ:) which was up 46.38% to settle at 3.030 and Biocept Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 38.48% to close at 0.5650.

The worst performers were Cardlytics Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 36.72% to 54.55 in late trade, Recro Pharm (NASDAQ:) which lost 23.34% to settle at 11.00 and Allied Healthcare Products Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 19.30% to 16.140 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2372 to 459 and 49 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2064 rose and 571 declined, while 58 ended unchanged.

Shares in Dollar Tree Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to 52-week lows; losing 3.56% or 2.91 to 78.91. Shares in Halliburton Company (NYSE:) fell to 5-year lows; falling 3.51% or 0.56 to 15.39.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 13.12% to 31.99.

Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.42% or 6.85 to $1637.55 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 0.04% or 0.02 to hit $47.20 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.16% or 0.08 to trade at $51.67 a barrel.

EUR/USD was down 0.01% to 1.1133, while USD/JPY rose 0.05% to 107.58.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.22% at 97.340.

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