Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Healthcare, Technology and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.55% to hit a new 6-month high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.88%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 1.32%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX), which rose 2.27% or 3.11 points to trade at 140.02 at the close. Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) added 1.71% or 0.81 points to end at 48.21 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 1.55% or 1.14 points to 74.60 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), which lost 2.69% or 2.85 points to trade at 103.16 in late trade. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) declined 2.09% or 1.22 points to end at 57.15 and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) shed 1.63% or 0.88 points to 53.22.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Hasbro Inc (NASDAQ:HAS) which rose 14.23% to 100.65, Kohls Corp (NYSE:KSS) which was up 11.91% to settle at 75.48 and Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) which gained 9.27% to close at 93.08.
The worst performers were Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) which was down 12.31% to 211.36 in late trade, State Street Corp (NYSE:STT) which lost 4.35% to settle at 66.86 and Albemarle Corp (NYSE:ALB) which was down 3.80% to 79.05 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Silver Run Acquisition Corporation II (NASDAQ:AMR) which rose 30.15% to 0.23, Synthesis Energy Systems Inc (NASDAQ:SES) which was up 28.60% to settle at 0.5400 and Atossa Genetics Inc (NASDAQ:ATOS) which gained 22.97% to close at 3.4800.
The worst performers were Moleculin Biotech Inc (NASDAQ:MBRX) which was down 46.64% to 1.59 in late trade, Presbia PLC (NASDAQ:LENS) which lost 39.78% to settle at 0.330 and Astec Industries Inc (NASDAQ:ASTE) which was down 26.00% to 31.59 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2189 to 788 and 106 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1958 rose and 706 declined, while 67 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.13% to 12.28.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.26% or 3.35 to $1274.25 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 0.96% or 0.63 to hit $66.18 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 0.12% or 0.09 to trade at $74.37 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.04% to 1.1229, while USD/JPY rose 0.01% to 111.88.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.30% at 97.245.