Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Consumer Goods, Healthcare and Utilities sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.32%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.39%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.41%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which rose 1.74% or 2.25 points to trade at 131.29 at the close. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) added 1.47% or 2.22 points to end at 153.73 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) was up 1.49% or 0.53 points to 36.46 in late trade.
Biggest losers included International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), which lost 1.47% or 2.33 points to trade at 155.99 in late trade. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) declined 1.14% or 0.58 points to end at 50.73 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shed 0.71% or 1.60 points to 224.92.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Express Scripts Holding Co (NASDAQ:ESRX) which rose 7.87% to 79.20, Akamai Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:AKAM) which was up 6.72% to settle at 74.69 and Wynn Resorts Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN) which gained 6.49% to close at 179.34.
The worst performers were Kroger Company (NYSE:KR) which was down 11.84% to 23.12 in late trade, Cigna Corporation (NYSE:CI) which lost 11.31% to settle at 172.28 and L Brands Inc (NYSE:LB) which was down 5.59% to 41.51 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Jaguar Health Inc (NASDAQ:JAGX) which rose 117.71% to 0.305, Immuron Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:IMRN) which was up 65.55% to settle at 14.27 and InVivo Therapeutics Holdings (NASDAQ:NVIV) which gained 60.17% to close at 0.84.
The worst performers were Vascular Biogenics Ltd (NASDAQ:VBLT) which was down 61.10% to 2.645 in late trade, FTD Companies Inc (NASDAQ:FTD) which lost 34.74% to settle at 4.41 and Regulus Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RGLS) which was down 26.59% to 0.918 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1730 to 1380 and 47 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1374 rose and 1127 declined, while 102 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 5.80% to 16.73.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.42% or 5.60 to $1322.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 1.42% or 0.87 to hit $60.28 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.78% or 0.50 to trade at $63.84 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.88% to 1.2302, while USD/JPY rose 0.12% to 106.22.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.67% at 90.16.