Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Healthcare, Basic Materials and Technology sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.25%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.57%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.95%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were E I du Pont de Nemours & Co (NYSE:DD), which rose 1.63% or 1.36 points to trade at 84.55 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 1.54% or 3.02 points to end at 198.90 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) was up 1.41% or 0.47 points to 33.92 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which lost 1.62% or 1.67 points to trade at 101.20 in late trade. Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) declined 0.60% or 0.47 points to end at 78.07 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) shed 0.52% or 0.63 points to 121.18.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were AutoNation Inc (NYSE:AN) which rose 4.35% to 45.37, Mallinckrodt (NYSE:MNK) which was up 4.34% to settle at 41.08 and Tiffany & Co (NYSE:TIF) which gained 4.28% to close at 91.40.
The worst performers were Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) which was down 8.06% to 46.20 in late trade, Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) which lost 5.43% to settle at 72.56 and CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ:CHRW) which was down 3.33% to 70.63 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Payment Data Systems Inc (NASDAQ:PYDS) which rose 45.68% to 2.360, Nano Dimension Ltd (NASDAQ:NNDM) which was up 29.13% to settle at 5.32 and Tyme Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:TYME) which gained 24.61% to close at 6.43.
The worst performers were Steadymed Ltd (NASDAQ:STDY) which was down 33.90% to 3.900 in late trade, root9B Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:RTNB) which lost 17.16% to settle at 1.4000 and Titan Machinery Inc (NASDAQ:TITN) which was down 16.99% to 12.90 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2232 to 853 and 156 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1637 rose and 857 declined, while 154 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 5.35% to 10.62.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.95% or 12.54 to $1326.64 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 2.46% or 1.13 to hit $47.09 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 3.92% or 1.99 to trade at $52.72 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.18% to 1.1904, while USD/JPY fell 0.27% to 109.94.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.25% at 92.61.