Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Telecoms and Utilities sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Technology, Basic Materials and Healthcare sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.38% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.07%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.70%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), which rose 4.37% or 7.10 points to trade at 169.48 at the close. Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) added 2.90% or 3.58 points to end at 126.96 and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was up 1.90% or 1.41 points to 75.76 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which lost 2.02% or 1.15 points to trade at 55.88 in late trade. Visa Inc (NYSE:V) declined 1.79% or 2.44 points to end at 133.84 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shed 1.57% or 1.61 points to 100.88.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) which rose 7.55% to 4.700, Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA) which was up 5.48% to settle at 41.75 and Allergan Plc (NYSE:AGN) which gained 5.08% to close at 163.27.
The worst performers were Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX) which was down 5.86% to 55.23 in late trade, JM Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) which lost 5.37% to settle at 100.80 and Lam Research Corp (NASDAQ:LRCX) which was down 5.40% to 188.83 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Top Ships Inc (NASDAQ:TOPS) which rose 47.50% to 1.1800, Onconova Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ONTX) which was up 41.48% to settle at 0.7060 and A V Homes Inc (NASDAQ:AVHI) which gained 28.79% to close at 21.25.
The worst performers were Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PTI) which was down 38.16% to 3.03 in late trade, MiMedx Group Inc (NASDAQ:MDXG) which lost 23.39% to settle at 6.29 and Evolus Inc (NASDAQ:EOLS) which was down 19.51% to 30.98 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1648 to 1391 and 147 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1413 fell and 1126 advanced, while 139 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 3.61% to 12.06.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.04% or 0.50 to $1300.90 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 1.78% or 1.15 to hit $65.88 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 2.61% or 1.97 to trade at $77.33 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.22% to 1.1800, while USD/JPY fell 0.41% to 109.73.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.20% at 93.42.