Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Utilities and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.38%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.52%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.13%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which rose 2.30% or 3.56 points to trade at 158.05 at the close. The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) added 1.41% or 2.11 points to end at 151.82 and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) was up 1.38% or 1.45 points to 106.19 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which lost 7.41% or 3.90 points to trade at 48.71 in late trade. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) declined 1.22% or 4.62 points to end at 374.91 and Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) shed 1.20% or 1.69 points to 139.33.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Diamondback Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FANG) which rose 6.06% to 99.58, Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) which was up 5.05% to settle at 32.85 and Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) which gained 4.04% to close at 14.17.
The worst performers were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) which was down 7.41% to 48.71 in late trade, Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) which lost 5.73% to settle at 80.11 and KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) which was down 3.85% to 311.72 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Alterity Therapeutics Ltd (NASDAQ:ATHE) which rose 63.85% to 2.1300, Trxade Group Inc (NASDAQ:MEDS) which was up 61.76% to settle at 7.150 and Marin Software Inc (NASDAQ:MRIN) which gained 39.24% to close at 14.94.
The worst performers were Citius Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CTXR) which was down 25.57% to 2.590 in late trade, Borqs Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:BRQS) which lost 23.45% to settle at 1.1100 and 1Stdibs.Com Inc (NASDAQ:DIBS) which was down 21.75% to 27.24 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2074 to 1087 and 131 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1958 rose and 1517 declined, while 148 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.21% to 15.48 a new 52-week low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.29% or 5.15 to $1776.75 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 2.03% or 1.49 to hit $74.96 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 1.22% or 0.91 to trade at $75.53 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.07% to 1.1846, while USD/JPY rose 0.42% to 111.57.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.15% at 92.567.