Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Technology, Basic Materials and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.02%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 1.43%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 1.93%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which rose 6.94% or 3.35 points to trade at 51.62 at the close. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) added 2.27% or 3.86 points to end at 174.07 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was up 2.06% or 10.38 points to 513.61 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which lost 0.68% or 0.91 points to trade at 132.09 in late trade. Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) declined 0.40% or 1.28 points to end at 315.77 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) shed 0.02% or 0.04 points to 222.13.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) which rose 9.82% to 281.50, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) which was up 6.94% to settle at 51.62 and Monolithic Power Systems Inc (NASDAQ:MPWR) which gained 6.66% to close at 494.62.
The worst performers were EPAM Systems Inc (NYSE:EPAM) which was down 6.13% to 287.84 in late trade, Nielsen Holdings PLC (NYSE:NLSN) which lost 3.79% to settle at 22.35 and Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) which was down 3.53% to 57.73 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:INM) which rose 43.05% to 1.08, Global Internet of People Inc (NASDAQ:SDH) which was up 38.35% to settle at 1.84 and AgriFORCE Growing Systems Ltd (NASDAQ:AGRI) which gained 34.89% to close at 4.91.
The worst performers were LiqTech International Inc (NASDAQ:LIQT) which was down 36.32% to 2.98 in late trade, Vicinity Motor Corp (NASDAQ:VEV) which lost 25.98% to settle at 2.45 and Volcon Inc (NASDAQ:VLCN) which was down 17.87% to 2.16 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2071 to 1102 and 120 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2576 rose and 1290 declined, while 162 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 8.06% to 21.67 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 1.26% or 24.40 to $1,961.70 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 3.06% or 3.52 to hit $111.41 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 2.96% or 3.60 to trade at $118.00 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.05% to 1.10, while USD/JPY rose 0.96% to 122.32.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.18% at 98.79.