Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Monday, as gains in the Healthcare, Technology and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Oil & Gas, Utilities and Telecoms sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.38%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.35%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.19%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which rose 1.38% or 0.83 points to trade at 61.10 at the close. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) added 0.91% or 1.07 points to end at 118.98 and Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) was up 0.66% or 0.45 points to 68.71 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), which lost 1.65% or 1.46 points to trade at 87.04 in late trade. International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) declined 1.11% or 1.88 points to end at 167.65 and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) shed 1.09% or 0.58 points to 52.68.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Global Payments Inc (NYSE:GPN) which rose 7.17% to 79.79, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VRTX) which was up 4.37% to settle at 82.86 and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) which gained 4.05% to close at 107.28.
The worst performers were Acuity Brands Inc (NYSE:AYI) which was down 14.68% to 202.51 in late trade, Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE:SWN) which lost 4.88% to settle at 9.75 and Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) which was down 4.29% to 32.76 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:DFFN) which rose 176.70% to 5.7000, EnteroMedics Inc (NASDAQ:ETRM) which was up 92.60% to settle at 17.7000 and ARIAD Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ARIA) which gained 72.82% to close at 23.75.
The worst performers were AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AMAG) which was down 35.57% to 23.00 in late trade, VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ:VVPR) which lost 19.51% to settle at 4.58 and Chromadex Corp (NASDAQ:CDXC) which was down 16.62% to 3.0600 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2081 to 1148 and 22 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1482 fell and 1036 advanced, while 99 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 2.03% to 11.55.
In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was up 0.72% or 8.50 to $1181.90 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 3.95% or 2.13 to hit $51.86 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 3.98% or 2.27 to trade at $54.83 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.35% to 1.0570, while USD/JPY fell 0.82% to 116.07.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.22% at 101.95.