U.S. shares higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.24%

Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Utilities, Healthcare and Technology sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.24% to hit a new 3-month high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.38%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.24%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Unitedhealth Group (NYSE:UNH), which rose 2.56% or 7.96 points to trade at 318.52 at the close. Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN) added 1.93% or 5.63 points to end at 297.44 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 1.82% or 1.46 points to 81.78 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which lost 4.79% or 10.26 points to trade at 203.74 in late trade. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) declined 1.64% or 2.41 points to end at 144.77 and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) shed 1.34% or 0.59 points to 43.16.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) which rose 13.31% to 199.86, Newmont Goldcorp Corp (NYSE:NEM) which was up 4.91% to settle at 55.93 and Cardinal Health Inc (NYSE:CAH) which gained 4.55% to close at 160.52.

The worst performers were Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) which was down 4.79% to 203.74 in late trade, Albemarle Corp (NYSE:ALB) which lost 4.00% to settle at 62.48 and Warner Bros Discovery Inc (NASDAQ:WBD) which was down 3.33% to 10.16 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Volcon Inc (NASDAQ:VLCN) which rose 765.25% to 5.70, Healthcare Triangle Inc (NASDAQ:HCTI) which was up 226.09% to settle at 0.03 and Greenlane Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:GNLN) which gained 100.00% to close at 0.02.

The worst performers were Helius Medical Technologies Inc Class A (NASDAQ:HSDT) which was down 45.89% to 0.60 in late trade, Intensity Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:INTS) which lost 44.73% to settle at 0.32 and Jupiter Neurosciences Inc (NASDAQ:JUNS) which was down 43.72% to 1.12 at the close.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1523 to 1227 and 94 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1994 fell and 1310 advanced, while 127 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 4.40% to 18.02.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 1.88% or 62.90 to $3,406.60 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 0.67% or 0.46 to hit $68.61 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 0.30% or 0.21 to trade at $69.98 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.83% to 1.16, while USD/JPY fell 0.67% to 143.56.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.73% at 97.88.