Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Consumer Goods and Financials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.70%, while the S&P 500 index added 1.89%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 1.78%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which rose 4.22% or 0.87 points to trade at 21.50 at the close. Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) added 4.13% or 4.17 points to end at 105.05 and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) was up 3.31% or 4.77 points to 148.75 in late trade.
Biggest losers included The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV), which lost 0.18% or 0.30 points to trade at 168.98 in late trade. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) added 0.02% or 0.02 points to end at 102.87 and Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) gained 0.39% or 0.65 points to 165.52.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) which rose 13.02% to 14.80, Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX) which was up 11.55% to settle at 209.17 and Paramount Global Class B (NASDAQ:PARA) which gained 10.37% to close at 11.92.
The worst performers were BorgWarner Inc (NYSE:BWA) which was down 13.10% to 32.25 in late trade, Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) which lost 10.29% to settle at 77.22 and Dentsply Sirona Inc (NASDAQ:XRAY) which was down 7.46% to 28.54 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Virios Therapeutics Llc (NASDAQ:VIRI) which rose 57.20% to 0.81, Baijiayun Group Ltd (NASDAQ:RTC) which was up 46.53% to settle at 3.59 and Aware Inc (NASDAQ:AWRE) which gained 45.71% to close at 1.53.
The worst performers were OUTLOOK THERAPEUTICS INC (NASDAQ:OTLK) which was down 46.24% to 0.34 in late trade, Confluent Inc (NASDAQ:CFLT) which lost 42.13% to settle at 16.28 and reAlpha Tech Corp (NASDAQ:AIRE) which was down 40.57% to 10.40 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2588 to 384 and 40 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2650 rose and 868 declined, while 76 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 7.17% to 15.66 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.26% or 5.10 to $1,992.60 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 2.56% or 2.06 to hit $82.50 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 2.59% or 2.19 to trade at $86.82 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.46% to 1.06, while USD/JPY fell 0.29% to 150.51.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.64% at 106.03.