U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 2.81%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Technology and Telecoms sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2.81%, while the S&P 500 index gained 2.99%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 3.19%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Honeywell International Inc (NASDAQ:HON), which rose 4.47% or 8.81 points to trade at 205.85 at the close. Meanwhile, Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) added 4.20% or 8.97 points to end at 222.59 and 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) was up 4.15% or 6.15 points to 154.23 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), which rose 0.74% or 1.15 points to trade at 157.36 at the close. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) added 1.07% or 1.91 points to end at 180.20 and Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) was up 1.38% or 2.11 points to 154.62.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Paycom Soft (NYSE:PAYC) which rose 13.78% to 328.20, Generac Holdlings Inc (NYSE:GNRC) which was up 11.79% to settle at 261.78 and Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH) which gained 9.98% to close at 191.94.

The worst performers were Akamai Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:AKAM) which was down 9.70% to 102.76 in late trade, Johnson Controls International PLC (NYSE:JCI) which lost 8.71% to settle at 56.52 and IDEXX Laboratories Inc (NASDAQ:IDXX) which was down 5.65% to 411.31 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Rail Vision Ltd Unit (NASDAQ:RVSN) which rose 62.41% to 2.16, TransMedics Group Inc (NASDAQ:TMDX) which was up 40.33% to settle at 30.69 and Aclarion Inc (NASDAQ:ACON) which gained 36.63% to close at 2.35.

The worst performers were Connect Biopharma Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:CNTB) which was down 57.72% to 0.82 in late trade, Kezar Life Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:KZR) which lost 43.51% to settle at 6.96 and Amarin Corporation PLC (NASDAQ:AMRN) which was down 43.07% to 1.56 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2631 to 554 and 122 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2781 rose and 1090 declined, while 187 ended unchanged.

Shares in Johnson Controls International PLC (NYSE:JCI) fell to 52-week lows; down 8.71% or 5.39 to 56.52. Shares in IDEXX Laboratories Inc (NASDAQ:IDXX) fell to 52-week lows; losing 5.65% or 24.65 to 411.31. Shares in Connect Biopharma Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:CNTB) fell to all time lows; falling 57.72% or 1.12 to 0.82. Shares in Amarin Corporation PLC (NASDAQ:AMRN) fell to 5-year lows; falling 43.07% or 1.18 to 1.56.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 13.09% to 25.42.

Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.70% or 13.14 to $1,883.74 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 5.29% or 5.42 to hit $107.83 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 5.00% or 5.25 to trade at $110.22 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.97% to 1.06, while USD/JPY fell 0.73% to 129.15.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.93% at 102.54.