U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.31%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the , and sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the fell 0.31%, while the index declined 0.38%, and the index declined 0.59%.

The best performers of the session on the were Walt Disney Company (NYSE:), which rose 1.86% or 2.15 points to trade at 117.60 at the close. Meanwhile, Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:) added 1.42% or 1.44 points to end at 103.06 and Travelers Companies (NYSE:) was up 1.10% or 2.89 points to 266.66 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Salesforce Inc (NYSE:), which fell 3.84% or 13.17 points to trade at 330.01 at the close. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:) declined 1.17% or 5.00 points to end at 422.99 and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:) was down 1.15% or 1.57 points to 135.35.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 4.10% to 375.25, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 3.78% to settle at 9.06 and VeriSign Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 3.49% to close at 191.63.

The worst performers were Dell Technologies Inc (NYSE:) which was down 12.25% to 124.38 in late trade, HP Inc (NYSE:) which lost 11.36% to settle at 34.66 and Autodesk Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 8.59% to 290.64 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were U BX Technology Ltd (NASDAQ:) which rose 1,316.67% to 3.91, T Stamp Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 130.14% to settle at 0.84 and VCI Global Ltd (NASDAQ:) which gained 129.05% to close at 4.10.

The worst performers were Primega Group Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:) which was down 98.45% to 1.66 in late trade, OUTLOOK THERAPEUTICS INC (NASDAQ:) which lost 65.24% to settle at 1.70 and CIMG Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 43.13% to 0.91 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1675 to 1135 and 71 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1837 rose and 1472 declined, while 116 ended unchanged.

Shares in Travelers Companies (NYSE:) rose to all time highs; rising 1.10% or 2.89 to 266.66. Shares in Primega Group Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; down 98.45% or 105.70 to 1.66. Shares in OUTLOOK THERAPEUTICS INC (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; losing 65.24% or 3.19 to 1.70.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.00% to 14.10.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.57% or 15.05 to $2,661.35 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.01% or 0.01 to hit $68.78 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.07% or 0.05 to trade at $72.37 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.77% to 1.06, while USD/JPY fell 1.28% to 151.15.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.88% at 106.03.