Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Financials and Technology sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.10%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.15%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.05%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which rose 2.21% or 2.07 points to trade at 95.79 at the close. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) added 1.47% or 3.84 points to end at 265.58 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was up 0.96% or 2.68 points to 282.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included 3M Company (NYSE:MMM), which lost 1.66% or 2.77 points to trade at 164.37 in late trade. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) declined 0.91% or 3.16 points to end at 345.68 and Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) shed 0.84% or 0.37 points to 43.52.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH) which rose 3.47% to 100.73, Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) which was up 3.41% to settle at 299.39 and Ralph Lauren Corp Class A (NYSE:RL) which gained 3.10% to close at 112.06.
The worst performers were Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALXN) which was down 6.96% to 107.42 in late trade, Brown Forman (NYSE:BFb) which lost 6.29% to settle at 63.57 and F5 Networks Inc (NASDAQ:FFIV) which was down 3.91% to 137.96 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) which rose 78.78% to 15.000, QuickLogic Corporation (NASDAQ:QUIK) which was up 36.08% to settle at 0.330 and Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PTI) which gained 35.36% to close at 3.79.
The worst performers were Sage Therapeutic (NASDAQ:SAGE) which was down 59.67% to 60.18 in late trade, Akers Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:AKER) which lost 43.06% to settle at 3.160 and Kirklands Inc (NASDAQ:KIRK) which was down 31.43% to 0.91 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1570 to 1260 and 98 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1343 fell and 1292 advanced, while 88 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.89% to 14.52.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.06% or 0.90 to $1481.10 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 0.17% or 0.10 to hit $58.33 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 0.02% or 0.01 to trade at $63.28 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.04% to 1.1106, while USD/JPY fell 0.01% to 108.73.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.24% at 97.365.