Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Healthcare, Financials and Telecoms sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Oil & Gas, Consumer Services and Technology sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.03%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.34%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.56%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which rose 2.02% or 2.32 points to trade at 117.09 at the close. Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN) added 0.82% or 2.48 points to end at 303.17 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) was up 0.75% or 1.38 points to 187.10 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which lost 5.12% or 1.31 points to trade at 24.26 in late trade. Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) declined 1.62% or 1.69 points to end at 102.35 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) shed 1.27% or 2.34 points to 181.91.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) which rose 3.12% to 16.86, EPAM Systems Inc (NYSE:EPAM) which was up 2.68% to settle at 290.23 and Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) which gained 2.65% to close at 134.76.
The worst performers were APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) which was down 7.35% to 34.05 in late trade, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) which lost 5.12% to settle at 24.26 and ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON) which was down 3.92% to 76.20 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Minim Inc (NASDAQ:MINM) which rose 111.70% to 3.62, Omega Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:OMGA) which was up 94.69% to settle at 5.32 and Avenue Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ATXI) which gained 94.49% to close at 0.34.
The worst performers were E-Home Household Service Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:EJH) which was down 47.45% to 0.78 in late trade, Opko Health Inc (NASDAQ:OPK) which lost 39.55% to settle at 0.91 and Jin Medical International Ltd (NASDAQ:ZJYL) which was down 36.87% to 126.89 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1469 to 1395 and 80 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1748 fell and 1673 advanced, while 121 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.64% to 14.13 a new 1-month high.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.39% or 7.95 to $2,050.75 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.44% or 0.32 to hit $72.38 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.77% or 0.60 to trade at $77.65 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.25% to 1.09, while USD/JPY rose 0.96% to 144.66.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.05% at 102.14.