U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.31%

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 0.31% to hit a new 52-week high, while the index added 0.24%, and the index climbed 0.03%.

The best performers of the session on the were Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:), which rose 5.28% or 1.71 points to trade at 33.98 at the close. Meanwhile, Salesforce Inc (NYSE:) added 2.92% or 6.65 points to end at 234.28 and Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:) was up 2.32% or 1.19 points to 52.43 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Boeing Co (NYSE:), which fell 1.40% or 2.97 points to trade at 208.60 at the close. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:) declined 1.23% or 4.41 points to end at 355.08 and American Express Company (NYSE:) was down 0.51% or 0.91 points to 177.13.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:) which rose 13.36% to 81.28, AT&T Inc (NYSE:) which was up 8.48% to settle at 14.59 and KeyCorp (NYSE:) which gained 6.44% to close at 11.40.

The worst performers were Omnicom Group Inc (NYSE:) which was down 10.36% to 87.78 in late trade, Interpublic Group of Companies Inc (NYSE:) which lost 7.88% to settle at 37.66 and Align Technology Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 5.00% to 342.58 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 36.36% to 3.30, SMX Security Matters Ord Shs Class A (NASDAQ:) which was up 28.08% to settle at 0.19 and enVVeno Medical Corp (NASDAQ:) which gained 27.47% to close at 4.64.

The worst performers were Sono Group NV (NASDAQ:) which was down 32.42% to 0.23 in late trade, Amarin Corporation PLC (NASDAQ:) which lost 24.48% to settle at 1.08 and Carmell Therapeutics Corp (NASDAQ:) which was down 24.21% to 6.51 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1832 to 1084 and 100 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1947 rose and 1577 declined, while 132 ended unchanged.

Shares in Salesforce Inc (NYSE:) rose to 52-week highs; rising 2.92% or 6.65 to 234.28. Shares in Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:) rose to 52-week highs; up 2.32% or 1.19 to 52.43. Shares in Carmell Therapeutics Corp (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; down 24.21% or 2.08 to 6.51.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 3.46% to 13.76.

Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.01% or 0.20 to $1,981.00 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September fell 0.45% or 0.34 to hit $75.32 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 0.20% or 0.16 to trade at $79.47 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.22% to 1.12, while USD/JPY rose 0.65% to 139.71.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.37% at 100.00.