Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Technology, Healthcare and Oil & Gas sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.47%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.53%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.84%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which rose 2.20% or 2.42 points to trade at 112.57 at the close. Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) added 2.07% or 0.66 points to end at 32.62 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 1.52% or 0.79 points to 52.72 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT), which lost 1.54% or 1.00 points to trade at 64.12 in late trade. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) declined 0.74% or 0.54 points to end at 72.42 and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) shed 0.49% or 0.45 points to 91.40.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which rose 5.03% to 11.27, KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) which was up 4.32% to settle at 51.48 and Keurig Green Mountain Inc (NASDAQ:GMCR) which gained 3.93% to close at 60.89.
The worst performers were Wynn Resorts Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN) which was down 4.61% to 69.67 in late trade, Qorvo Inc (NASDAQ:QRVO) which lost 4.54% to settle at 53.98 and Williams Companies Inc (NYSE:WMB) which was down 3.78% to 44.27 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Envivio Inc (NASDAQ:ENVI) which rose 113.68% to 4.060, Axion Power International Inc (NASDAQ:AXPW) which was up 45.05% to settle at 2.350 and Zs Pharma I (NASDAQ:ZSPH) which gained 28.42% to close at 74.73.
The worst performers were DryShips Inc (NASDAQ:DRYS) which was down 40.11% to 0.255 in late trade, Nexvet Biopharma (NASDAQ:NVET) which lost 20.38% to settle at 4.98 and Asia Pacific Wire & Cable Corp Ltd (NASDAQ:APWC) which was down 19.43% to 1.410 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1408 to 1142 and 4 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1501 rose and 1066 declined, while 54 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.14% to 24.62.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was up 0.70% or 7.70 to $1109.70 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 3.56% or 1.57 to hit $45.72 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 2.40% or 1.14 to trade at $48.72 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.60% to 1.1275, while USD/JPY rose 0.12% to 120.66.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.44% at 95.54.