Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Industrials and Technology sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.25% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.76%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.63%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which rose 3.11% or 7.50 points to trade at 248.87 at the close. United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) added 2.94% or 3.47 points to end at 121.63 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was up 2.48% or 5.52 points to 227.65 in late trade.
Biggest losers included General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which lost 1.35% or 0.25 points to trade at 18.23 in late trade. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) declined 0.54% or 0.75 points to end at 139.06 and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) shed 0.33% or 0.34 points to 104.89.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were L Brands Inc (NYSE:LB) which rose 6.91% to 56.16, Kroger Company (NYSE:KR) which was up 6.15% to settle at 25.88 and HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA) which gained 5.98% to close at 84.93.
The worst performers were Juniper Networks Inc (NYSE:JNPR) which was down 6.15% to 27.70 in late trade, Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) which lost 2.99% to settle at 42.43 and Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) which was down 2.59% to 60.08 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were My Size Inc (NASDAQ:MYSZ) which rose 54.47% to 1.01, EV Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ:EVEP) which was up 24.79% to settle at 0.761 and Immersion Corporation (NASDAQ:IMMR) which gained 24.74% to close at 7.43.
The worst performers were Meridian Waste Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:MRDN) which was down 19.53% to 1.03 in late trade, Global Brokerage Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GLBR) which lost 18.35% to settle at 0.49 and PAVmed Inc (NASDAQ:PAVM) which was down 17.91% to 3.07 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1744 to 1405 and 37 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1342 rose and 1212 declined, while 82 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 3.46% to 11.07.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.61% or 7.79 to $1274.31 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 0.05% or 0.03 to hit $57.27 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.13% or 0.08 to trade at $62.61 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.46% to 1.1902, while USD/JPY rose 0.51% to 112.50.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.26% at 92.98.