U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.25%

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 0.25%, while the index gained 0.74%, and the index climbed 1.15%.

The best performers of the session on the were Salesforce Inc (NYSE:), which rose 2.82% or 6.24 points to trade at 227.41 at the close. Meanwhile, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:) added 2.04% or 0.68 points to end at 33.98 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:) was up 1.72% or 5.51 points to 326.39 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:), which fell 2.65% or 1.38 points to trade at 50.74 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:) declined 2.38% or 11.02 points to end at 451.87 and International Business Machines (NYSE:) was down 1.19% or 1.60 points to 132.84.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Domino’s Pizza Inc (NYSE:) which rose 11.09% to 388.59, Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 5.19% to settle at 182.80 and Invesco Plc (NYSE:) which gained 4.84% to close at 18.41.

The worst performers were Centene Corp (NYSE:) which was down 5.84% to 63.80 in late trade, Elevance Health Inc (NYSE:) which lost 4.78% to settle at 414.15 and Cigna Corp (NYSE:) which was down 4.65% to 268.63 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Petros Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 93.37% to 3.79, Healthcare Triangle Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 90.18% to settle at 6.20 and NFT Gaming Company Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 90.07% to close at 1.34.

The worst performers were Painreform Ltd (NASDAQ:) which was down 51.58% to 7.99 in late trade, CBL International Ltd (NASDAQ:) which lost 43.89% to settle at 2.80 and Yellow Corp (NASDAQ:) which was down 29.55% to 0.93 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2128 to 843 and 54 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2205 rose and 1330 declined, while 130 ended unchanged.

Shares in Elevance Health Inc (NYSE:) fell to 52-week lows; falling 4.78% or 20.77 to 414.15. Shares in Salesforce Inc (NYSE:) rose to 52-week highs; up 2.82% or 6.24 to 227.41. Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:) fell to 52-week lows; falling 2.38% or 11.02 to 451.87.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 8.76% to 13.54.

Gold Futures for August delivery was up 1.37% or 26.50 to $1,963.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 1.44% or 1.08 to hit $75.91 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 1.12% or 0.89 to trade at $80.29 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 1.18% to 1.11, while USD/JPY fell 1.33% to 138.51.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 1.17% at 100.22.