Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Technology, Utilities and Financials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.01%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.36%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.76%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which rose 2.55% or 7.26 points to trade at 291.60 at the close. Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) added 0.76% or 1.13 points to end at 150.80 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was up 0.70% or 3.58 points to 512.81 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which lost 2.04% or 4.36 points to trade at 209.17 in late trade. Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) declined 1.41% or 2.76 points to end at 192.55 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) shed 1.40% or 2.25 points to 158.83.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Catalent Inc (NYSE:CTLT) which rose 5.40% to 64.95, First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC) which was up 4.39% to settle at 14.03 and Signature Bank (OTC:SBNY) which gained 4.28% to close at 0.17.
The worst performers were SVB Financial Group (OTC:SIVBQ) which was down 12.09% to 0.80 in late trade, The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) which lost 5.66% to settle at 43.67 and FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) which was down 4.07% to 116.92 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were GlucoTrack Inc (NASDAQ:GCTK) which rose 221.71% to 1.19, Liquid Media Group Ltd (NASDAQ:YVR) which was up 87.42% to settle at 0.26 and Better Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:BTTX) which gained 35.59% to close at 1.22.
The worst performers were Jowell Global Ltd. (NASDAQ:JWEL) which was down 28.40% to 0.30 in late trade, Apollomics Inc (NASDAQ:APLM) which lost 25.26% to settle at 12.19 and MDJM Ltd (NASDAQ:MDJH) which was down 18.78% to 1.47 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1587 to 1362 and 126 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2056 rose and 1550 declined, while 205 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.56% to 18.40 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.63% or 12.85 to $2,022.75 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.22% or 0.18 to hit $80.43 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 0.14% or 0.12 to trade at $84.87 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.18% to 1.09, while USD/JPY rose 0.38% to 131.82.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.04% at 101.58.