U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 2.00%

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

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2.00%, while the S&P 500 index gained 2.57%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 3.59%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM), which rose 5.77% or 11.08 points to trade at 203.16 at the close. Meanwhile, American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) added 5.37% or 8.60 points to end at 168.65 and Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) was up 4.74% or 5.74 points to 126.95 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX), which fell 2.50% or 4.26 points to trade at 166.27 at the close. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) declined 0.32% or 0.17 points to end at 53.08 and McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) was down 0.14% or 0.32 points to 222.47.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Match Group Inc (NASDAQ:MTCH) which rose 12.81% to 98.93, Tapestry Inc (NYSE:TPR) which was up 10.64% to settle at 35.88 and Caesars Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ:CZR) which gained 10.46% to close at 77.59.

The worst performers were Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) which was down 5.88% to 79.35 in late trade, Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) which lost 5.68% to settle at 82.79 and Schlumberger NV (NYSE:SLB) which was down 5.59% to 42.56 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Direct Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:DRCT) which rose 107.50% to 2.49, Revelation Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:REVB) which was up 83.82% to settle at 1.70 and Sentage Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:SNTG) which gained 47.27% to close at 1.62.

The worst performers were Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:HYMC) which was down 37.00% to 0.63 in late trade, Natera Inc (NASDAQ:NTRA) which lost 32.79% to settle at 36.80 and Cyren Ltd (NASDAQ:CYRN) which was down 31.89% to 7.09 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2428 to 817 and 124 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 3103 rose and 716 declined, while 227 ended unchanged.

Shares in Natera Inc (NASDAQ:NTRA) fell to 52-week lows; losing 32.79% or 17.95 to 36.80.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 7.63% to 32.45.

Gold Futures for April delivery was down 2.31% or 47.15 to $1,996.15 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 11.07% or 13.69 to hit $110.01 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.24% or 0.27 to trade at $112.06 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.02% to 1.11, while USD/JPY rose 0.03% to 115.86.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 1.14% at 97.95.