Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Thursday, as losses in the Healthcare, Basic Materials and Telecoms sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.22%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.33%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.25%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which rose 3.28% or 3.53 points to trade at 111.14 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) added 0.66% or 1.92 points to end at 293.76 and Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was up 0.40% or 0.18 points to 46.08 in late trade.
Biggest losers included UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which lost 1.38% or 3.10 points to trade at 221.25 in late trade. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) declined 1.36% or 2.02 points to end at 146.56 and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) shed 1.03% or 0.55 points to 52.34.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Twenty-First Century Fox Inc A (NASDAQ:FOXA) which rose 6.90% to 35.01, Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ:FOX) which was up 5.81% to settle at 34.22 and Mattel Inc (NASDAQ:MAT) which gained 4.97% to close at 16.36.
The worst performers were Acuity Brands Inc (NYSE:AYI) which was down 3.68% to 161.28 in late trade, Perrigo Co (NYSE:PRGO) which lost 3.26% to settle at 83.21 and Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) which was down 3.40% to 33.09 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were One Horizon Group Inc (NASDAQ:OHGI) which rose 180.37% to 3.0000, Siebert Financial Corp (NASDAQ:SIEB) which was up 62.48% to settle at 8.400 and Concordia International Corp (NASDAQ:CXRX) which gained 56.58% to close at 0.84.
The worst performers were Criteo Sa (NASDAQ:CRTO) which was down 25.83% to 23.45 in late trade, Ameri Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AMRH) which lost 22.53% to settle at 1.41 and CounterPath Corp (NASDAQ:CPAH) which was down 17.98% to 2.871 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2070 to 1068 and 38 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1725 fell and 813 advanced, while 81 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.59% to 10.24.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.70% or 8.80 to $1257.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.87% or 0.49 to hit $57.09 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 1.47% or 0.92 to trade at $63.36 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.31% to 1.1789, while USD/JPY fell 0.30% to 112.20.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.12% at 93.51.