Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Healthcare, Technology and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.19%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.33%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.51%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which rose 5.25% or 2.80 points to trade at 56.16 at the close. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) added 1.56% or 0.76 points to end at 49.55 and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was up 1.41% or 2.12 points to 152.69 in late trade.
Biggest losers included General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which lost 1.76% or 0.23 points to trade at 12.83 in late trade. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) declined 1.12% or 3.64 points to end at 322.48 and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) shed 1.11% or 1.94 points to 172.51.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Leucadia National Corporation (NYSE:LUK) which rose 11.58% to 24.29, Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) which was up 6.19% to settle at 125.15 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) which gained 5.25% to close at 56.16.
The worst performers were Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW) which was down 3.40% to 85.24 in late trade, CarMax Inc (NYSE:KMX) which lost 2.54% to settle at 58.77 and Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) which was down 2.50% to 30.07 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were AveXis Inc (NASDAQ:AVXS) which rose 81.57% to 210.46, Turtle Beach Corp (NASDAQ:HEAR) which was up 28.52% to settle at 3.290 and RadiSys Corporation (NASDAQ:RSYS) which gained 25.00% to close at 0.690.
The worst performers were Menlo Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:MNLO) which was down 76.80% to 8.17 in late trade, InVivo Therapeutics Holdings (NASDAQ:NVIV) which lost 30.27% to settle at 0.35 and China Internet Nationwide Financial Services Inc (NASDAQ:CIFS) which was down 27.88% to 21.06 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1557 to 1475 and 161 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1258 rose and 1221 declined, while 165 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 1.95% to 21.91.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.31% or 4.10 to $1340.20 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 2.06% or 1.28 to hit $63.34 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 2.26% or 1.52 to trade at $68.63 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.33% to 1.2321, while USD/JPY fell 0.22% to 106.71.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.31% at 89.54.