U.S. stocks finished the trading day in mixed fashion on Wednesday, as gains concentrated in Industrials, Consumer Services and Healthcare helped lift some benchmarks while weakness in Telecoms, Oil & Gas and Basic Materials exerted downward pressure elsewhere.
At the New York Stock Exchange close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.36%. By contrast, the S&P 500 ended down 0.09% and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.43%.
Top movers on the Dow
On the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) led the index higher, climbing 5.67% - a rise of 18.41 points to finish at 342.86. Sherwin-Williams Co (NYSE:SHW) added 3.17%, gaining 10.23 points to close at 333.13. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) also contributed to the upside, rising 2.49% or 4.03 points to end the day at 165.87.
Lagging Dow names
Certain large-cap names detracted from the broader averages. Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) fell 2.52%, losing 4.43 points to trade at 171.55 at the close. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) declined 2.27%, down 8.49 points to 365.46, and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) dropped 2.27%, or 2.36 points, to finish at 101.18.
S&P 500 bright spots and weak spots
Within the S&P 500, Builders FirstSource Inc (NYSE:BLDR) posted the largest advance, up 11.31% to 85.41. Mohawk Industries Inc (NYSE:MHK) was up 9.60% to settle at 119.09, and IQVIA Holdings Inc (NYSE:IQV) gained 8.37% to close at 185.62.
On the downside, Blackstone Inc (NYSE:BX) was the biggest decliner among the benchmark's components, falling 5.90% to 112.99. Principal Financial Group Inc (NASDAQ:PFG) lost 5.07% to settle at 106.66, while Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) slipped 4.55% to 157.65.
Notable moves on the Nasdaq Composite
The Nasdaq featured extreme percentage swings in several small-cap and speculative names. Autonomix Medical Inc (NASDAQ:AMIX) surged 1,908.36% to 7.21. Scage Future ADR (NASDAQ:SCAG) rose 100.96% to 0.71, and Pulsenmore Ltd (NASDAQ:PLSM) gained 93.24% to close at 6.57.
Conversely, Aditx Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ADTX) plunged 77.22% to 0.01. Sleep Number Corp (OTC:SNBRQ) fell 56.67% to 0.03, and Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:HTZ) declined 41.01% to 3.00.
Market breadth and notable lows
On the NYSE, advancing issues outnumbered decliners 1,422 to 1,323, with 89 stocks unchanged. On the Nasdaq, 1,650 issues advanced, 1,741 declined and 179 finished unchanged. The session included several milestone lows: Sleep Number Corp shares dropped to all-time lows, falling 56.67% or 0.04 to 0.03, while Hertz Global Holdings shares reached 52-week lows, down 41.01% or 2.08 to 3.00.
Volatility, commodities and currencies
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures implied volatility for S&P 500 options, declined 4.31% to 18.65.
Commodities were broadly weaker Wednesday. Gold Futures for August delivery fell 3.21%, a drop of 133.25 to $4,016.15 a troy ounce. In energy markets, crude oil for August delivery dropped 4.59% or 3.36 to $69.85 a barrel, while the September Brent contract declined 4.39% or 3.37 to trade at $73.43 a barrel.
In foreign exchange markets, EUR/USD was listed as unchanged 0.21% to 1.14, while USD/JPY rose 0.19% to 161.81. The US Dollar Index Futures moved higher by 0.19% to 101.36.
Session takeaway
Wednesday's trading reflected a market split between sector leadership and sector weakness. Industrials, Consumer Services and Healthcare underpinned gains in selective large-cap names, but declines in Telecoms, Oil & Gas and Basic Materials, alongside sizable swings in smaller-cap stocks, left the broad indices mixed by the close.