Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Oil & Gas, Consumer Services and Healthcare sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.25%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.47%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 1.03%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were International Business Machines (N:IBM), which rose 5.04% or 6.35 points to trade at 132.45 at the close. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson (N:JNJ) added 1.70% or 1.74 points to end at 104.24 and Verizon Communications Inc (N:VZ) was up 1.23% or 0.62 points to 50.94 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Wal-Mart Stores Inc (N:WMT), which fell 3.05% or 2.02 points to trade at 64.12 at the close. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (N:GS) declined 2.13% or 3.21 points to end at 147.73 and Apple Inc (O:AAPL) was down 1.90% or 1.86 points to 96.26.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were NVIDIA Corporation (O:NVDA) which rose 8.60% to 30.04, CF Industries Holdings Inc (N:CF) which was up 8.42% to settle at 34.37 and Chesapeake Energy Corporation (N:CHK) which gained 5.32% to close at 1.98.
The worst performers were Perrigo Co (N:PRGO) which was down 10.17% to 130.40 in late trade, Newfield Exploration Company (N:NFX) which lost 9.13% to settle at 22.60 and Anadarko Petroleum Corp (N:APC) which was down 8.57% to 37.03 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Sunedison Semiconductor Ltd (O:SEMI) which rose 51.36% to 5.57, Wave Life Sciences Ltd (O:WVE) which was up 31.32% to settle at 13.29 and Vestin Realty Mortgage II Inc (O:VRTB) which gained 29.69% to close at 1.660.
The worst performers were Internet Initiative Japan Inc (O:IIJI) which was down 100.00% to 0.00 in late trade, Birner Dental Management Services (O:BDMS) which lost 100.00% to settle at 0.00 and Cordia Bancorp Inc (O:BVA) which was down 100.00% to 0.000 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1714 to 1642 and 30 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1661 fell and 1000 advanced, while 56 ended unchanged.
Shares in Perrigo Co (N:PRGO) fell to 52-week lows; falling 10.17% or 14.77 to 130.40. Shares in Newfield Exploration Company (N:NFX) fell to 52-week lows; losing 9.13% or 2.27 to 22.60. Shares in Internet Initiative Japan Inc (O:IIJI) fell to all time lows; down 100.00% or 9.22 to 0.00. Shares in Birner Dental Management Services (O:BDMS) fell to all time lows; down 100.00% or 9.75 to 0.00. Shares in Cordia Bancorp Inc (O:BVA) fell to all time lows; falling 100.00% or 3.970 to 0.000.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.82% to 21.68.
Gold for April delivery was up 1.87% or 22.70 to $1234.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 0.36% or 0.11 to hit $30.55 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 1.36% or 0.47 to trade at $34.03 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.22% to 1.1103, while USD/JPY fell 0.80% to 113.19.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.01% at 96.87.