Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Thursday, as losses in the Healthcare, Technology and Telecoms sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.07%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.15%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.47%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which rose 4.82% or 1.73 points to trade at 37.64 at the close. JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) added 1.50% or 1.50 points to end at 101.72 and Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) was up 1.05% or 1.34 points to 129.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which lost 1.80% or 1.45 points to trade at 79.06 in late trade. Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) declined 1.57% or 4.11 points to end at 257.72 and Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:V) shed 1.31% or 2.65 points to 199.55.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Apache Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) which rose 6.09% to 9.76, Cimarex Energy Co (NYSE:XEC) which was up 5.35% to settle at 26.97 and The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) which gained 5.15% to close at 39.03.
The worst performers were Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VRTX) which was down 20.70% to 215.28 in late trade, Boston Scientific Corp (NYSE:BSX) which lost 3.99% to settle at 39.00 and United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) which was down 3.82% to 34.25 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Staffing 360 Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:STAF) which rose 67.94% to 1.3200, Dragon Victory International Ltd (NASDAQ:LYL) which was up 59.50% to settle at 1.930 and China HGS Real Estate Inc (NASDAQ:HGSH) which gained 50.07% to close at 1.5400.
The worst performers were Kaixin Auto Holdings (NASDAQ:KXIN) which was down 32.83% to 1.330 in late trade, VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ:VVPR) which lost 21.85% to settle at 8.980 and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VRTX) which was down 20.70% to 215.28 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1685 to 1377 and 91 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1640 rose and 1228 declined, while 91 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 2.16% to 26.97.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.29% or 5.55 to $1912.85 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in November fell 0.22% or 0.09 to hit $40.95 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract fell 0.14% or 0.06 to trade at $43.06 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.01% to 1.1707, while USD/JPY fell 0.03% to 105.41.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.48% at 93.812.