Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Health Care, Utilities and Industrials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.29%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 1.35%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 1.19%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 2.86% or 3.30 points to trade at 118.55 at the close. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) added 2.14% or 3.49 points to end at 166.23 and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was up 2.13% or 1.75 points to 83.58 in late trade.
Biggest losers included EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD), which lost 4.26% or 3.43 points to trade at 77.07 in late trade. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) declined 0.32% or 0.10 points to end at 30.83 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) gained 0.45% or 0.18 points to 41.56.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) which rose 9.83% to 148.65, Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN) which was up 5.63% to settle at 162.95 and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) which gained 5.32% to close at 452.22.
The worst performers were Avon Products Inc (NYSE:AVP) which was down 5.96% to 7.26 in late trade, EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) which lost 4.26% to settle at 77.07 and Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) which was down 3.73% to 422.05 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Sterling Construction Company Inc (NASDAQ:STRL) which rose 30.33% to 3.91, Ceres Inc (NASDAQ:CERE) which was up 27.26% to settle at 0.422 and Recro Pharm (NASDAQ:REPH) which gained 26.50% to close at 7.59.
The worst performers were iDreamSky Technology Limited (NASDAQ:DSKY) which was down 33.92% to 7.15 in late trade, Anthera Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ANTH) which lost 26.09% to settle at 4.050 and NTELOS Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:NTLS) which was down 23.66% to 4.86 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2050 to 762; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1554 rose and 1231 declined, while 7 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.56% to 15.59.
In commodities trading, Gold for April delivery was up 0.10% or 1.20 to $1153.60 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude Oil for delivery in May fell 1.99% or 0.94 to hit $46.12 a barrel, while the May Brent Oil contract fell 1.58% or 0.87 to trade at $54.14 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.66% to 1.0566, while USD/JPY rose 0.01% to 121.40.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.57% at 100.14.