Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Technology and Industrials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.03%, while the S&P 500 index added 2.16%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 2.67%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW), which rose 5.92% or 2.75 points to trade at 49.20 at the close. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) added 5.53% or 8.59 points to end at 163.81 and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) was up 4.36% or 4.37 points to 104.62 in late trade.
Biggest losers included UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which lost 0.65% or 2.30 points to trade at 352.26 in late trade. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) added 0.11% or 0.23 points to end at 215.10 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) gained 0.41% or 0.33 points to 80.95.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Albemarle Corp (NYSE:ALB) which rose 13.56% to 106.10, Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) which was up 12.69% to settle at 145.33 and Coty Inc (NYSE:COTY) which gained 11.09% to close at 3.35.
The worst performers were Hanesbrands Inc (NYSE:HBI) which was down 17.62% to 13.48 in late trade, Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) which lost 7.28% to settle at 329.75 and Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ:INCY) which was down 6.72% to 85.08 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Kayne Anderson Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:ALTM) which rose 177.97% to 27.880, Oncternal Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ONCT) which was up 130.46% to settle at 3.48 and Hall of Fame Resort Entertainment Co (NASDAQ:HOFV) which gained 88.42% to close at 3.58.
The worst performers were Clovis Oncology Inc (NASDAQ:CLVS) which was down 21.08% to 4.47 in late trade, Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS) which lost 17.87% to settle at 2.160 and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co (NASDAQ:HMHC) which was down 18.00% to 2.25 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2424 to 464 and 65 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2146 rose and 590 declined, while 54 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.05% to 27.78.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 2.92% or 55.45 to $1951.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 1.43% or 0.56 to hit $38.59 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 1.12% or 0.46 to trade at $40.77 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.92% to 1.1829, while USD/JPY fell 0.93% to 103.50.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.90% at 92.573.