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 gained 1.22%, while the index added 0.86%, and the index gained 0.51%.
The best performers of the session on the were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:), which rose 4.96% or 6.23 points to trade at 131.75 at the close. Meanwhile, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:) added 4.24% or 1.78 points to end at 43.77 and Boeing Co (NYSE:) was up 2.37% or 4.45 points to 191.95 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Salesforce Inc (NYSE:), which fell 1.46% or 4.45 points to trade at 301.38 at the close. Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:) declined 0.56% or 1.58 points to end at 279.02 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:) was down 0.05% or 0.22 points to 421.43.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 9.56% to 119.80, First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 9.33% to settle at 167.45 and Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:) which gained 8.25% to close at 685.64.
The worst performers were Arista Networks (NYSE:) which was down 3.13% to 288.50 in late trade, ServiceNow Inc (NYSE:) which lost 2.57% to settle at 758.60 and Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 2.50% to 613.53 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Lixte Biotechnology Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 55.75% to 3.52, Biosig Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 55.32% to settle at 0.73 and Ontrak Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 38.69% to close at 0.60.
The worst performers were Gamida Cell Ltd (NASDAQ:) which was down 82.74% to 0.06 in late trade, Direct Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:) which lost 39.49% to settle at 16.04 and Wetouch Technology Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 32.69% to 2.28 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2341 to 544 and 53 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2443 rose and 932 declined, while 112 ended unchanged.
Shares in Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:) rose to all time highs; rising 8.25% or 52.24 to 685.64. Shares in Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:) rose to all time highs; rising 4.96% or 6.23 to 131.75. Shares in Gamida Cell Ltd (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; down 82.74% or 0.28 to 0.06. Shares in Wetouch Technology Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to 52-week lows; losing 32.69% or 1.10 to 2.28.
The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.47% to 12.78 a new 1-month low.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.67% or 14.50 to $2,191.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 0.09% or 0.07 to hit $81.69 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 0.02% or 0.02 to trade at $85.65 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.02% to 1.08, while USD/JPY fell 0.16% to 151.32.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.02% at 104.01.