Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Utilities , Oil & Gas and Basic Materials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.58%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.56%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.51%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Unitedhealth Group (NYSE: UNH ), which rose 1.05% or 3.11 points to trade at 298.11 at the close. Meanwhile, Boeing Co (NYSE: BA ) added 0.23% or 0.47 points to end at 201.50 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL ) was up 0.13% or 0.26 points to 200.47 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE: MRK ), which fell 1.85% or 1.44 points to trade at 76.16 at the close. Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE ) declined 1.70% or 1.07 points to end at 61.76 and Chevron Corp (NYSE: CVX ) was down 1.31% or 1.81 points to 136.02.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE: FICO ) which rose 7.74% to 1,619.94, Warner Bros Discovery Inc (NASDAQ: WBD ) which was up 5.03% to settle at 10.03 and GE Vernova LLC (NYSE: GEV ) which gained 2.98% to close at 485.54.
The worst performers were Cadence Design Systems Inc (NASDAQ: CDNS ) which was down 10.67% to 288.61 in late trade, Synopsys Inc (NASDAQ: SNPS ) which lost 9.64% to settle at 462.43 and Smith AO Corporation (NYSE: AOS ) which was down 6.33% to 64.23 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Lyra Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: LYRA ) which rose 4,888.64% to 4.39, Altisource Portfolio Solutions SA (NASDAQ: ASPS ) which was up 653.13% to settle at 6.01 and Spero Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: SPRO ) which gained 244.57% to close at 2.35.
The worst performers were QVC Group Inc Series B (OTC: QVCGB ) which was down 73.45% to 52.58 in late trade, InflaRx N.V. (NASDAQ: IFRX ) which lost 59.86% to settle at 0.73 and Patriot National Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ: PNBK ) which was down 51.02% to 1.68 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2014 to 744 and 86 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2151 fell and 1174 advanced, while 126 ended unchanged.
Shares in GE Vernova LLC (NYSE: GEV ) rose to all time highs; gaining 2.98% or 14.03 to 485.54. Shares in InflaRx N.V. (NASDAQ: IFRX ) fell to all time lows; losing 59.86% or 1.09 to 0.73. Shares in Spero Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: SPRO ) rose to 3-years highs; rising 244.57% or 1.67 to 2.35.
The CBOE Volatility Index , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 1.79% to 19.30.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.19% or 6.38 to $3,321.92 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 1.53% or 0.93 to hit $61.82 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 1.07% or 0.68 to trade at $64.25 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.30% to 1.13, while USD/JPY rose 0.37% to 144.85.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.37% at 99.79.