Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Thursday, as losses in the Industrials, Basic Materials and Financials sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 2.93% to hit a new 1-month low, while the S&P 500 index lost 2.52%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 2.43%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), which fell 0.56% or 0.24 points to trade at 42.76 at the close. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) fell 0.82% or 0.63 points to end at 76.41 and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) was down 0.85% or 0.40 points to 46.88 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which lost 5.71% or 8.90 points to trade at 146.90 in late trade. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) declined 5.19% or 17.49 points to end at 319.61 and 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) shed 4.69% or 10.97 points to 223.17.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Pacific Gas & Electric Co (NYSE:PCG) which rose 2.72% to 44.13, Ventas Inc (NYSE:VTR) which was up 1.77% to settle at 49.32 and Edison International (NYSE:EIX) which gained 1.60% to close at 62.92.
The worst performers were AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) which was down 12.76% to 98.100 in late trade, Acuity Brands Inc (NYSE:AYI) which lost 8.42% to settle at 134.66 and Darden Restaurants Inc (NYSE:DRI) which was down 7.90% to 85.94 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc (NASDAQ:OMEX) which rose 119.00% to 8.3000, National American University (NASDAQ:NAUH) which was up 50.63% to settle at 1.190 and Omeros Corporation (NASDAQ:OMER) which gained 35.31% to close at 15.75.
The worst performers were EV Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ:EVEP) which was down 26.09% to 0.170 in late trade, Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) which lost 17.84% to settle at 16.76 and China Auto Logistics Inc (NASDAQ:CALI) which was down 17.11% to 4.410 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2513 to 598 and 92 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2047 fell and 506 advanced, while 105 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 30.74% to 23.35 a new 1-month high.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.57% or 7.50 to $1329.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 1.38% or 0.90 to hit $64.27 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.81% or 0.56 to trade at $68.91 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.24% to 1.2309, while USD/JPY fell 0.64% to 105.37.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.18% at 89.44.