Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Healthcare, Oil & Gas and Financials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.41%, while the S&P 500 index declined 1.44%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 1.67%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Wal-Mart Stores Inc (N:WMT), which rose 1.18% or 0.69 points to trade at 59.04 at the close. Meanwhile, General Electric Company (N:GE) added 0.20% or 0.06 points to end at 30.03 and Procter & Gamble Company (N:PG) was down 0.07% or 0.05 points to 75.74 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were The Travelers Companies Inc (N:TRV), which fell 2.98% or 3.42 points to trade at 111.29 at the close. Nike Inc (N:NKE) declined 2.66% or 3.53 points to end at 129.12 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (N:GS) was down 2.66% or 5.06 points to 185.20.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Avago Technologies Ltd (O:AVGO) which rose 9.51% to 144.78, Newmont Mining Corporation (N:NEM) which was up 4.93% to settle at 18.73 and Kroger Company (N:KR) which gained 4.72% to close at 39.91.
The worst performers were Chesapeake Energy Corporation (N:CHK) which was down 11.78% to 4.87 in late trade, PVH Corp (N:PVH) which lost 11.09% to settle at 83.02 and Southwestern Energy Company (N:SWN) which was down 7.46% to 8.19 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Lilis Energy Inc (O:LLEX) which rose 227.57% to 0.360, Truett Hurs (O:THST) which was up 42.86% to settle at 2.00 and Dex Media Inc (O:DXM) which gained 46.89% to close at 0.17.
The worst performers were Net Element International, Inc. (O:NETE) which was down 26.86% to 0.18 in late trade, Pacific Sunwear of California Inc (O:PSUN) which lost 22.47% to settle at 0.279 and Methes Energies International Ltd (O:MEIL) which was down 21.97% to 0.360 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2728 to 713 and 2 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2006 fell and 632 advanced, while 38 ended unchanged.
Shares in Chesapeake Energy Corporation (N:CHK) fell to 5-year lows; losing 11.78% or 0.65 to 4.87. Shares in PVH Corp (N:PVH) fell to 3-years lows; down 11.09% or 10.36 to 83.02. Shares in Kroger Company (N:KR) rose to all time highs; up 4.72% or 1.80 to 39.91. Shares in Southwestern Energy Company (N:SWN) fell to 5-year lows; losing 7.46% or 0.66 to 8.19.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 13.89% to 18.12.
Gold for February delivery was up 0.72% or 7.60 to $1061.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 3.29% or 1.31 to hit $41.26 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 3.53% or 1.50 to trade at $43.99 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 3.14% to 1.0946, while USD/JPY fell 0.61% to 122.50.
The US Dollar Index was down 2.23% at 97.81.