Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Consumer Services, Technology and Consumer Goods sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.39%, while the S&P 500 index gained 1.61%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 2.32%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO), which rose 6.80% or 3.09 points to trade at 48.53 at the close. Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) added 6.58% or 4.52 points to end at 73.18 and Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) was up 5.07% or 3.98 points to 82.50 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which lost 2.10% or 0.86 points to trade at 40.04 in late trade. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) declined 0.52% or 0.88 points to end at 167.92 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) shed 0.24% or 0.27 points to 113.31.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ:ULTA) which rose 11.17% to 365.80, Albemarle Corp (NYSE:ALB) which was up 8.70% to settle at 79.19 and Super Micro Computer Inc (NASDAQ:SMCI) which gained 8.59% to close at 626.69.
The worst performers were Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) which was down 4.20% to 1,733.79 in late trade, MarketAxess Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MKTX) which lost 2.93% to settle at 233.90 and AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) which was down 2.75% to 19.09 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Quantum BioPharma Ltd (NASDAQ:QNTM) which rose 4,649.72% to 4.27, Cingulate Inc (NASDAQ:CING) which was up 161.62% to settle at 4.84 and Portage Biotech Inc (NASDAQ:PRTG) which gained 62.79% to close at 3.50.
The worst performers were Turnstone Biologics Corp (NASDAQ:TSBX) which was down 62.10% to 0.83 in late trade, Collective Audience Inc (NASDAQ:CAUD) which lost 52.29% to settle at 0.21 and Sow Good Inc (NASDAQ:SOWG) which was down 34.77% to 13.21 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2204 to 651 and 63 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2477 rose and 860 declined, while 108 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 5.93% to 15.23.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.56% or 14.00 to $2,493.70 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 1.29% or 0.99 to hit $77.97 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 1.40% or 1.12 to trade at $80.88 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.37% to 1.10, while USD/JPY rose 1.31% to 149.24.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.49% at 102.89.