Investing.com – U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas , Basic Materials and Consumer Goods sectors led shares higher while losses in the Telecoms , Utilities and Healthcare sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.02%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.47%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.94%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE ), which rose 4.06% or 2.98 points to trade at 76.39 at the close. Meanwhile, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA ) added 2.58% or 3.95 points to end at 157.25 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL ) was up 2.22% or 4.62 points to 212.44 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Unitedhealth Group (NYSE: UNH ), which fell 5.70% or 18.58 points to trade at 307.56 at the close. Travelers Companies (NYSE: TRV ) declined 3.58% or 9.57 points to end at 257.43 and International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM ) was down 1.22% or 3.55 points to 287.65.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Albemarle Corp (NYSE: ALB ) which rose 8.09% to 67.99, Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA ) which was up 5.54% to settle at 30.28 and Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL ) which gained 5.04% to close at 229.99.

The worst performers were Centene Corp (NYSE: CNC ) which was down 40.34% to 33.80 in late trade, Molina Healthcare Inc (NYSE: MOH ) which lost 21.97% to settle at 239.00 and Elevance Health Inc (NYSE: ELV ) which was down 11.50% to 350.25 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Sonnet Biotherapeutics Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: SONN ) which rose 243.79% to 4.16, Mogo Inc (NASDAQ: MOGO ) which was up 111.57% to settle at 2.56 and Blue Gold Ltd (NASDAQ: BGL ) which gained 84.85% to close at 133.00.

The worst performers were Mustang Bio Inc (NASDAQ: MBIO ) which was down 39.51% to 1.24 in late trade, BioNexus Gene Lab Corp (NASDAQ: BGLC ) which lost 38.78% to settle at 6.82 and LA Rosa Holdings Corp (NASDAQ: LRHC ) which was down 36.73% to 0.08 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2000 to 785 and 54 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2268 rose and 1037 declined, while 154 ended unchanged.

Shares in Centene Corp (NYSE: CNC ) fell to 5-year lows; down 40.34% or 22.86 to 33.80. Shares in Molina Healthcare Inc (NYSE: MOH ) fell to 3-years lows; down 21.97% or 67.29 to 239.00. Shares in Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL ) rose to all time highs; gaining 5.04% or 11.03 to 229.99. Shares in Elevance Health Inc (NYSE: ELV ) fell to 3-years lows; falling 11.50% or 45.51 to 350.25. Shares in Mogo Inc (NASDAQ: MOGO ) rose to 52-week highs; rising 111.57% or 1.35 to 2.56. Shares in Blue Gold Ltd (NASDAQ: BGL ) rose to all time highs; up 84.85% or 61.05 to 133.00. Shares in LA Rosa Holdings Corp (NASDAQ: LRHC ) fell to all time lows; falling 36.73% or 0.05 to 0.08.

The CBOE Volatility Index , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.07% to 16.65.

Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.57% or 19.00 to $3,368.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 3.03% or 1.98 to hit $67.43 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 2.89% or 1.94 to trade at $69.05 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.05% to 1.18, while USD/JPY rose 0.17% to 143.67.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.02% at 96.44.