U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.55%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Technology, Consumer Services and Financials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.55%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 2.24%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 3.77%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which rose 5.06% or 9.10 points to trade at 188.99 at the close. Meanwhile, Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) added 4.85% or 9.51 points to end at 205.65 and Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) was up 4.84% or 5.78 points to 125.18 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which fell 1.64% or 0.79 points to trade at 47.38 at the close. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) declined 0.87% or 1.54 points to end at 174.60 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was down 0.71% or 0.56 points to 78.08.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were EPAM Systems Inc (NYSE:EPAM) which rose 25.12% to 281.58, Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) which was up 14.34% to settle at 169.36 and Las Vegas Sands Corp (NYSE:LVS) which gained 11.88% to close at 36.54.

The worst performers were NortonLifeLock Inc (NASDAQ:NLOK) which was down 13.28% to 26.11 in late trade, CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE:CF) which lost 7.15% to settle at 88.08 and Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) which was down 6.10% to 421.32 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Sonnet Biotherapeutics Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:SONN) which rose 86.73% to 0.51, VNET Group Inc DRC (NASDAQ:VNET) which was up 83.25% to settle at 7.00 and Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:KC) which gained 72.27% to close at 5.53.

The worst performers were Tantech Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:TANH) which was down 68.84% to 0.50 in late trade, Incannex Healthcare Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:IXHL) which lost 59.41% to settle at 13.80 and Blue Water Vaccines Inc (NASDAQ:BWV) which was down 38.14% to 42.00 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2577 to 637 and 101 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 3132 rose and 719 declined, while 142 ended unchanged.

Shares in Tantech Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:TANH) fell to all time lows; down 68.84% or 1.10 to 0.50.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 10.59% to 26.67.

Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.22% or 4.30 to $1,925.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 1.72% or 1.66 to hit $94.78 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 2.32% or 2.32 to trade at $97.59 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.74% to 1.10, while USD/JPY rose 0.39% to 118.75.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.71% at 98.36.