Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Monday, as losses in the Oil & Gas, Telecoms and Financials sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.09%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.21%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.06%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which rose 1.01% or 0.65 points to trade at 64.94 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) added 0.97% or 1.58 points to end at 163.98 and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) was up 0.94% or 1.03 points to 110.68 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which lost 1.13% or 0.55 points to trade at 48.03 in late trade. Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) declined 1.08% or 1.49 points to end at 136.49 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shed 0.84% or 1.36 points to 160.51.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Hasbro Inc (NASDAQ:HAS) which rose 14.14% to 94.31, Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE:COG) which was up 10.71% to settle at 23.73 and Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE:NEM) which gained 3.21% to close at 37.94.
The worst performers were Laboratory Corporation of America (NYSE:LH) which was down 5.69% to 129.86 in late trade, Newell Brands Inc (NYSE:NWL) which lost 5.67% to settle at 44.23 and Xylem Inc (NYSE:XYL) which was down 4.20% to 47.18 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were DryShips Inc (NASDAQ:DRYS) which rose 34.21% to 5.61, Power Solutions International Inc (NASDAQ:PSIX) which was up 32.14% to settle at 3.70 and Globus Maritime Ltd (NASDAQ:GLBS) which gained 29.85% to close at 9.7000.
The worst performers were Vanguard Natural Resources LLC (NASDAQ:VNR) which was down 34.71% to 0.193 in late trade, comScore Inc (NASDAQ:SCOR) which lost 28.42% to settle at 23.22 and Aratana Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PETX) which was down 17.93% to 6.59 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1957 to 1256 and 44 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1575 fell and 934 advanced, while 98 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 3.28% to 11.33.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 1.31% or 16.05 to $1236.85 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 1.32% or 0.71 to hit $53.12 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 1.69% or 0.96 to trade at $55.85 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.27% to 1.0754, while USD/JPY fell 0.87% to 111.67.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 99.80.