Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Utilities, Oil & Gas and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Consumer Services, Telecoms and Technology sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.20% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.11%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.48%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX), which rose 2.59% or 2.86 points to trade at 113.14 at the close. Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) added 1.91% or 0.67 points to end at 35.73 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 1.75% or 1.14 points to 66.12 in late trade.
Biggest losers included The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV), which lost 1.28% or 1.55 points to trade at 119.96 in late trade. Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) declined 0.93% or 0.92 points to end at 97.90 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) shed 0.86% or 1.37 points to 158.28.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) which rose 4.06% to 4.100, Michael Kors Holdings Limited (NYSE:KORS) which was up 3.49% to settle at 44.42 and First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) which gained 3.42% to close at 48.43.
The worst performers were Tiffany & Co (NYSE:TIF) which was down 4.77% to 90.95 in late trade, Henry Schein Inc (NASDAQ:HSIC) which lost 4.58% to settle at 161.15 and Navient Corp (NASDAQ:NAVI) which was down 4.57% to 13.78 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Aldeyra The (NASDAQ:ALDX) which rose 70.08% to 10.80, Pulse Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:PLSE) which was up 45.91% to settle at 14.970 and LM Funding America Inc (NASDAQ:LMFA) which gained 49.49% to close at 2.96.
The worst performers were Opiant Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OPNT) which was down 27.56% to 26.7900 in late trade, Net Element Inc (NASDAQ:NETE) which lost 24.17% to settle at 0.4550 and Summit Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ:SMMT) which was down 20.98% to 12.05 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1619 to 1480 and 122 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1375 fell and 1086 advanced, while 171 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.67% to 10.43.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.35% or 4.70 to $1332.70 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 0.85% or 0.42 to hit $49.72 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 0.18% or 0.10 to trade at $55.26 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.19% to 1.1906, while USD/JPY fell 0.05% to 110.43.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.28% at 92.13.