Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Technology, Oil & Gas and Financials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.74% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.67%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.81%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which rose 2.12% or 6.44 points to trade at 309.63 at the close. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) added 2.04% or 4.84 points to end at 242.60 and Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was up 1.82% or 0.99 points to 55.34 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which lost 2.06% or 1.15 points to trade at 54.68 in late trade. Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) declined 1.02% or 0.54 points to end at 52.19 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shed 0.57% or 1.68 points to 294.22.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were L Brands Inc (NYSE:LB) which rose 4.46% to 18.96, Jefferies Financial Group Inc (NYSE:JEF) which was up 3.94% to settle at 21.90 and Align Technology Inc (NASDAQ:ALGN) which gained 3.69% to close at 296.54.
The worst performers were Kohls Corp (NYSE:KSS) which was down 6.54% to 46.15 in late trade, Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) which lost 3.54% to settle at 17.43 and Capri Holdings Ltd (NYSE:CPRI) which was down 3.39% to 36.72 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Applied Genetic (NASDAQ:AGTC) which rose 122.84% to 9.27, Trillium Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:TRIL) which was up 93.96% to settle at 2.89 and Genetic Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:GENE) which gained 45.09% to close at 4.730.
The worst performers were Regulus Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RGLS) which was down 19.33% to 1.210 in late trade, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (NASDAQ:BBBY) which lost 19.22% to settle at 13.45 and Ecmoho Ltd (NASDAQ:MOHO) which was down 18.95% to 6.97 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1536 to 1281 and 93 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1485 rose and 1152 declined, while 83 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.77% to 12.54.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.44% or 6.85 to $1553.35 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.03% or 0.02 to hit $59.59 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.05% or 0.03 to trade at $65.39 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.00% to 1.1105, while USD/JPY rose 0.03% to 109.55.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.14% at 97.132.