WASHINGTON: U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Utilities, Basic Materials and Technology sectors led shares higher while losses in the Oil & Gas, Healthcare and Industrials sectors led shares lower. At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.16% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.11%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.09%. The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were E I du Pont de Nemours & Co (NYSE:DD), which rose 3.39% or 2.62 points to trade at 79.80 at the close. Meanwhile, Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) added 1.53% or 0.88 points to end at 58.24 and 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) was up 1.46% or 2.67 points to 186.04 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which fell 1.23% or 0.45 points to trade at 36.07 at the close. Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) declined 1.20% or 1.34 points to end at 110.38 and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) was down 1.17% or 0.96 points to 80.93. The top performers on the S&P 500 were Garmin Ltd (NASDAQ:GRMN) which rose 7.33% to 54.15, Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) which was up 4.00% to settle at 63.67 and E I du Pont de Nemours & Co (NYSE:DD) which gained 3.39% to close at 79.80.
The worst performers were First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) which was down 8.36% to 33.56 in late trade, Newfield Exploration Company (NYSE:NFX) which lost 8.05% to settle at 39.07 and Concho Resources Inc (NYSE:CXO) which was down 6.83% to 131.70 at the close. The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Microbot Medical Inc (NASDAQ:MBOT) which rose 46.20% to 7.5000, Bioanalytical Systems Inc (NASDAQ:BASI) which was up 31.68% to settle at 1.330 and Lantheus Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LNTH) which gained 29.95% to close at 12.150. The worst performers were Argos Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ARGS) which was down 66.48% to 1.48 in late trade, Cemtrex Inc (NASDAQ:CETX) which lost 33.59% to settle at 3.4000 and EyeGate Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:EYEG) which was down 31.62% to 2.530 at the close. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1815 to 1402 and 51 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1522 fell and 981 advanced, while 130 ended unchanged.
Shares in Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) rose to all time highs; rising 4.00% or 2.45 to 63.67. Shares in E I du Pont de Nemours & Co (NYSE:DD) rose to all time highs; up 3.39% or 2.62 to 79.80. Shares in E I du Pont de Nemours & Co (NYSE:DD) rose to all time highs; gaining 3.39% or 2.62 to 79.80. Shares in 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) rose to all time highs; rising 1.46% or 2.67 to 186.04. Shares in Argos Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ARGS) fell to all time lows; losing 66.48% or 2.92 to 1.48. Shares in Lantheus Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LNTH) rose to all time highs; up 29.95% or 2.800 to 12.150. The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 1.21% to 11.71. Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.02% or 0.25 to $1239.15 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 1.36% or 0.74 to hit $53.59 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 1.43% or 0.81 to trade at $55.85 a barrel. EUR/USD was up 0.28% to 1.0566, while USD/JPY fell 0.47% to 113.14. The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.23% at 101.22.
