U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.68%

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 1.68%, while the index climbed 1.13%, and the index added 0.43%.

The best performers of the session on the were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:), which rose 5.30% or 14.89 points to trade at 295.73 at the close. Meanwhile, International Business Machines (NYSE:) added 4.84% or 7.22 points to end at 156.33 and Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:) was up 4.60% or 2.76 points to 62.73 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:), which fell 2.86% or 2.53 points to trade at 85.83 at the close. Walt Disney Company (NYSE:) declined 2.32% or 3.36 points to end at 141.37 and Nike Inc (NYSE:) was down 0.83% or 0.84 points to 100.54.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 17.50% to 332.87, Coty Inc (NYSE:) which was up 14.47% to settle at 12.18 and Unum Group (NYSE:) which gained 9.26% to close at 30.21.

The worst performers were Ford Motor Company (NYSE:) which was down 9.48% to 8.31 in late trade, Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:) which lost 7.19% to settle at 54.73 and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 4.86% to 120.76 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Vivus Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 46.96% to 3.380, Puma Biotechnology Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 37.67% to settle at 14.56 and Wah Fu Education Group Ltd (NASDAQ:) which gained 34.97% to close at 2.470.

The worst performers were Lmp Automotive Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 27.59% to 26.80 in late trade, PC Connection Inc (NASDAQ:) which lost 25.13% to settle at 39.40 and RAPT Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 24.46% to 32.00 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2176 to 634 and 78 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1878 rose and 763 declined, while 63 ended unchanged.

Shares in Ford Motor Company (NYSE:) fell to 52-week lows; falling 9.48% or 0.87 to 8.31. Shares in International Business Machines (NYSE:) rose to 52-week highs; up 4.84% or 7.22 to 156.33.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 5.48% to 15.17.

Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.27% or 4.25 to $1559.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 3.18% or 1.58 to hit $51.19 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.04% or 0.02 to trade at $55.61 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.02% to 1.0999, while USD/JPY fell 0.02% to 109.78.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.33% at 98.127.

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