Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Technology, Consumer Services and Consumer Goods sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.49% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.45%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.67%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO), which rose 2.66% or 1.24 points to trade at 47.88 at the close. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) added 1.85% or 3.12 points to end at 172.15 and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was up 1.51% or 2.16 points to 145.35 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which lost 1.43% or 2.10 points to trade at 145.02 in late trade. Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) declined 0.69% or 0.48 points to end at 69.39 and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) shed 0.50% or 0.69 points to 137.35.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were ConAgra Foods Inc (NYSE:CAG) which rose 15.87% to 33.66, Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) which was up 3.56% to settle at 332.22 and Ecolab Inc (NYSE:ECL) which gained 3.28% to close at 191.78.
The worst performers were Darden Restaurants Inc (NYSE:DRI) which was down 6.26% to 109.03 in late trade, ABIOMED Inc (NASDAQ:ABMD) which lost 4.28% to settle at 169.43 and Macy’s Inc (NYSE:M) which was down 2.72% to 16.08 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Catalyst Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:CBIO) which rose 65.83% to 7.910, Helius Medical Technologies Inc Class A (NASDAQ:HSDT) which was up 55.83% to settle at 0.6545 and Zion Oil & Gas Inc (NASDAQ:ZN) which gained 46.38% to close at 0.186.
The worst performers were Ascena Retail Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASNA) which was down 59.05% to 8.19 in late trade, Euroseas Ltd (NASDAQ:ESEA) which lost 47.25% to settle at 4.220 and Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:EKSO) which was down 23.51% to 0.41 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1684 to 1131 and 96 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1474 rose and 1175 declined, while 86 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.64% to 12.50.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.27% or 4.05 to $1482.75 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.39% or 0.24 to hit $61.09 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.03% or 0.02 to trade at $66.59 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.04% to 1.1125, while USD/JPY fell 0.03% to 109.34.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.03% at 96.993.