Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Technology and Consumer Goods sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.51%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.73%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 1.34%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which rose 3.08% or 2.97 points to trade at 99.27 at the close. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) added 2.44% or 4.15 points to end at 174.38 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 2.22% or 1.90 points to 87.34 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which lost 2.34% or 1.39 points to trade at 58.05 in late trade. Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) declined 2.24% or 1.39 points to end at 60.73 and 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) shed 1.30% or 2.07 points to 156.59.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) which rose 8.30% to 21.54, Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:GILD) which was up 5.00% to settle at 66.36 and NortonLifeLock Inc (NASDAQ:NLOK) which gained 4.45% to close at 17.15.
The worst performers were Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY) which was down 6.65% to 76.68 in late trade, Cimarex Energy Co (NYSE:XEC) which lost 5.74% to settle at 41.37 and Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) which was down 4.82% to 80.25 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Gulf Resources Inc (NASDAQ:GURE) which rose 49.12% to 4.2500, China SXT Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SXTC) which was up 46.79% to settle at 1.4400 and OpGen Inc (NASDAQ:OPGN) which gained 44.59% to close at 2.270.
The worst performers were Cleveland BioLabs Inc (NASDAQ:CBLI) which was down 31.21% to 2.9100 in late trade, Lianluo Smart Ltd (NASDAQ:LLIT) which lost 26.12% to settle at 2.1500 and Allied Healthcare Products Inc (NASDAQ:AHPI) which was down 23.91% to 2.960 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1803 to 1011 and 80 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1671 rose and 981 declined, while 80 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.62% to 17.97.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.43% or 6.85 to $1581.05 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 3.20% or 1.65 to hit $49.91 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract unchanged 0.00% or 0.00 to trade at $54.16 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.02% to 1.1060, while USD/JPY rose 0.00% to 108.67.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.45% at 97.655.