Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Technology and Financials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.73% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.53%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.57%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which rose 2.93% or 4.62 points to trade at 162.54 at the close. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) added 1.98% or 1.92 points to end at 98.79 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) was up 1.68% or 0.61 points to 36.92 in late trade.
Biggest losers included UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which lost 0.45% or 0.64 points to trade at 140.84 in late trade. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) declined 0.29% or 0.16 points to end at 55.84 and Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shed 0.11% or 0.05 points to 45.69.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Williams Companies Inc (NYSE:WMB) which rose 6.16% to 23.60, MetLife Inc (NYSE:MET) which was up 4.69% to settle at 42.38 and Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) which gained 4.66% to close at 42.87.
The worst performers were NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG) which was down 3.47% to 15.31 in late trade, Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE:SWN) which lost 3.51% to settle at 13.47 and Wynn Resorts Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN) which was down 3.01% to 92.02 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Ocean Power Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:OPTT) which rose 61.43% to 4.730, SkyPeople Fruit Juice Inc (NASDAQ:SPU) which was up 55.44% to settle at 4.5700 and Forbes Energy Services Ltd (NASDAQ:FES) which gained 42.10% to close at 0.2275.
The worst performers were Rennova Health Inc (NASDAQ:RNVA) which was down 48.15% to 0.280 in late trade, Cinedigm Corp (NASDAQ:CIDM) which lost 21.73% to settle at 0.9001 and PrimeEnergy Corporation (NASDAQ:PNRG) which was down 20.98% to 48.01 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1831 to 1460 and 22 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1365 rose and 1197 declined, while 79 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.30% to 12.87 a new 6-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold for August delivery was down 0.70% or 9.45 to $1334.15 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 1.65% or 0.74 to hit $45.49 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 1.92% or 0.89 to trade at $47.15 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.25% to 1.1118, while USD/JPY rose 0.88% to 105.42.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.26% at 96.11.