Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Technology, Financials and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.50% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.56%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.78%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which rose 2.39% or 5.75 points to trade at 246.06 at the close. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) added 1.71% or 1.28 points to end at 75.97 and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) was up 1.35% or 1.29 points to 97.09 in late trade.
Biggest losers included UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which lost 1.29% or 2.58 points to trade at 197.90 in late trade. Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) declined 0.44% or 0.44 points to end at 100.11 and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shed 0.42% or 0.39 points to 92.03.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) which rose 5.39% to 194.39, Constellation Brands Inc (NYSE:STZ) which was up 4.01% to settle at 209.25 and Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) which gained 3.75% to close at 326.74.
The worst performers were Navient Corp (NASDAQ:NAVI) which was down 14.25% to 12.61 in late trade, Mallinckrodt (NYSE:MNK) which lost 4.98% to settle at 35.50 and Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) which was down 4.44% to 140.01 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Onvia Inc (NASDAQ:ONVI) which rose 98.89% to 8.950, Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corp (NASDAQ:ITEK) which was up 48.53% to settle at 3.03 and Yulong Eco-Materials Ltd (NASDAQ:YECO) which gained 42.86% to close at 1.100.
The worst performers were Streamline Health Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:STRM) which was down 35.32% to 1.740 in late trade, Biostage Inc (NASDAQ:BSTG) which lost 24.99% to settle at 0.227 and Real Goods Solar Inc (NASDAQ:RGSE) which was down 24.05% to 1.8000 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1887 to 1184 and 140 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1543 rose and 963 declined, while 141 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.57% to 9.19.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.42% or 5.35 to $1271.45 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 1.50% or 0.75 to hit $50.73 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 2.06% or 1.15 to trade at $56.95 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.48% to 1.1705, while USD/JPY rose 0.08% to 112.84.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.53% at 93.80.