Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Basic Materials , Industrials and Technology sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.14%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 1.11%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 1.46%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT ), which rose 3.59% or 11.74 points to trade at 338.49 at the close. Meanwhile, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT ) added 3.19% or 12.41 points to end at 401.02 and Boeing Co (NYSE: BA ) was up 2.68% or 4.26 points to 163.16 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Chevron Corp (NYSE: CVX ), which fell 0.78% or 1.19 points to trade at 150.81 at the close. International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM ) declined 0.73% or 1.86 points to end at 251.35 and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ ) was down 0.18% or 0.30 points to 165.12.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA ) which rose 15.94% to 35.21, Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE ) which was up 12.69% to settle at 54.33 and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc (NYSE: HII ) which gained 12.36% to close at 193.59.

The worst performers were CrowdStrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: CRWD ) which was down 6.34% to 365.44 in late trade, Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE: MPC ) which lost 5.26% to settle at 135.12 and Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO ) which was down 4.58% to 121.76 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Visionary Education Technology Holdings Group Inc (NASDAQ: GV ) which rose 184.23% to 3.69, Chimerix Inc (NASDAQ: CMRX ) which was up 70.56% to settle at 8.46 and ARB IOT Group Ltd (NASDAQ: ARBB ) which gained 60.88% to close at 0.84.

The worst performers were Cutera Inc (NASDAQ: CUTR ) which was down 63.26% to 0.12 in late trade, Li Bang International Corporation Inc (NASDAQ: LBGJ ) which lost 31.50% to settle at 1.37 and Exicure Inc (NASDAQ: XCUR ) which was down 30.32% to 9.95 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1878 to 904 and 78 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2219 rose and 1076 declined, while 128 ended unchanged.

Shares in Cutera Inc (NASDAQ: CUTR ) fell to all time lows; falling 63.26% or 0.20 to 0.12. Shares in Chimerix Inc (NASDAQ: CMRX ) rose to 3-years highs; up 70.56% or 3.50 to 8.46.

The CBOE Volatility Index , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.72% to 21.93.

Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.27% or 7.99 to $2,928.59 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 2.78% or 1.90 to hit $66.36 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 2.32% or 1.65 to trade at $69.39 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 1.59% to 1.08, while USD/JPY fell 0.56% to 148.91.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 1.36% at 104.25.