Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Telecoms and Consumer Goods sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Industrials, Technology and Financials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.03%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.02%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.26%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which rose 1.30% or 0.68 points to trade at 53.04 at the close. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) added 1.25% or 0.39 points to end at 31.25 and Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) was up 1.21% or 1.12 points to 93.94 in late trade.
Biggest losers included EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD), which lost 2.03% or 1.29 points to trade at 62.16 in late trade. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) declined 1.50% or 0.79 points to end at 52.05 and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) shed 0.27% or 0.22 points to 82.18.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) which rose 10.66% to 83.23, Columbia Pipeline Group Inc (NYSE:CPGX) which was up 8.51% to settle at 21.43 and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which gained 4.92% to close at 9.60.
The worst performers were Williams Companies Inc (NYSE:WMB) which was down 8.26% to 15.89 in late trade, CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE:CF) which lost 5.03% to settle at 33.64 and Endo International PLC (NASDAQ:ENDP) which was down 3.33% to 40.40 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Vericel Corp Ord (NASDAQ:VCEL) which rose 86.32% to 3.950, Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:SHIP) which was up 39.75% to settle at 3.871 and China Yida Holding Co (NASDAQ:CNYD) which gained 39.59% to close at 2.750.
The worst performers were Energy Focu (NASDAQ:EFOI) which was down 40.91% to 7.80 in late trade, InfoSonics Corp (NASDAQ:IFON) which lost 39.29% to settle at 1.190 and Barrett Business Services Inc (NASDAQ:BBSI) which was down 33.30% to 24.36 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1915 to 1430 and 33 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1648 fell and 910 advanced, while 67 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.42% to 18.08.
In commodities trading, Gold for April delivery was up 1.19% or 15.00 to $1272.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 0.99% or 0.38 to hit $37.91 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 2.14% or 0.88 to trade at $40.19 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 1.63% to 1.1179, while USD/JPY fell 0.18% to 113.14.
The US Dollar Index was down 1.03% at 96.19.