Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Consumer Goods , Technology and Financials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.65%, while the S&P 500 index added 1.83%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 2.45%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS ), which rose 6.02% or 34.39 points to trade at 605.92 at the close. Meanwhile, American Express Company (NYSE: AXP ) added 3.98% or 11.96 points to end at 312.32 and Home Depot Inc (NYSE: HD ) was up 3.39% or 13.31 points to 406.09 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Salesforce Inc (NYSE: CRM ), which fell 0.74% or 2.38 points to trade at 321.16 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE: BA ) declined 0.49% or 0.82 points to end at 166.20 and Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO ) was down 0.44% or 0.27 points to 61.77.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA ) which rose 8.04% to 428.22, Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK ) which was up 8.03% to settle at 82.04 and Intuitive Surgical Inc (NASDAQ: ISRG ) which gained 7.65% to close at 580.11.

The worst performers were Lululemon Athletica Inc (NASDAQ: LULU ) which was down 3.11% to 376.66 in late trade, Viatris Inc (NASDAQ: VTRS ) which lost 2.82% to settle at 11.39 and United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: UAL ) which was down 2.53% to 104.96 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Safe & Green Holdings Corp (NASDAQ: SGBX ) which rose 74.98% to 0.94, BIO-Key International Inc (NASDAQ: BKYI ) which was up 66.42% to settle at 2.28 and Nauticus Robotics Inc (NASDAQ: KITT ) which gained 56.23% to close at 3.10.

The worst performers were Ptl Inc (NASDAQ: PTLE ) which was down 70.04% to 4.35 in late trade, Meiwu Technology Co Ltd (NASDAQ: WNW ) which lost 59.22% to settle at 0.39 and Aclarion Inc (NASDAQ: ACON ) which was down 55.64% to 0.04 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2303 to 518 and 48 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2465 rose and 857 declined, while 98 ended unchanged.

Shares in Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK ) rose to all time highs; rising 8.03% or 6.10 to 82.04. Shares in Intuitive Surgical Inc (NASDAQ: ISRG ) rose to all time highs; rising 7.65% or 41.23 to 580.11. Shares in American Express Company (NYSE: AXP ) rose to all time highs; rising 3.98% or 11.96 to 312.32. Shares in Meiwu Technology Co Ltd (NASDAQ: WNW ) fell to all time lows; falling 59.22% or 0.56 to 0.39. Shares in Aclarion Inc (NASDAQ: ACON ) fell to all time lows; falling 55.64% or 0.05 to 0.04.

The CBOE Volatility Index , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 13.84% to 16.12.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 1.37% or 36.75 to $2,719.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 3.47% or 2.65 to hit $79.02 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 3.05% or 2.44 to trade at $82.36 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.17% to 1.03, while USD/JPY fell 0.89% to 156.53.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.13% at 108.97.