Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Industrials, Technology and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.29%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.28%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.54%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which rose 1.70% or 1.01 points to trade at 60.73 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) added 1.60% or 4.45 points to end at 282.72 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) was up 1.56% or 2.19 points to 142.53 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), which lost 1.31% or 0.61 points to trade at 45.84 in late trade. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) declined 1.28% or 1.17 points to end at 90.08 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) shed 1.00% or 0.43 points to 43.02.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE:CF) which rose 4.49% to 38.19, Edison International (NYSE:EIX) which was up 4.19% to settle at 71.60 and Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) which gained 3.68% to close at 117.53.
The worst performers were H&R Block Inc (NYSE:HRB) which was down 5.88% to 27.29 in late trade, Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) which lost 3.06% to settle at 15.99 and DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc (NYSE:DVA) which was down 2.73% to 67.31 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Global Brokerage Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GLBR) which rose 142.29% to 0.60, Sage Therapeutic (NASDAQ:SAGE) which was up 70.29% to settle at 156.50 and Entellus Medical Inc (NASDAQ:ENTL) which gained 49.81% to close at 23.98.
The worst performers were Fibrocell Science Inc (NASDAQ:FCSC) which was down 30.51% to 0.695 in late trade, Astrotech Corp (NASDAQ:ASTC) which lost 18.77% to settle at 3.972 and Duluth Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:DLTH) which was down 15.72% to 16.25 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1914 to 1221 and 37 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1579 rose and 929 declined, while 117 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.53% to 10.30.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was down 1.56% or 19.80 to $1246.30 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 1.20% or 0.67 to hit $56.63 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 1.44% or 0.88 to trade at $62.10 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.15% to 1.1777, while USD/JPY rose 0.77% to 113.14.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.24% at 93.75.