Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Financials, Basic Materials and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.17% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.29%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.30%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:V), which rose 1.71% or 3.00 points to trade at 177.98 at the close. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) added 1.49% or 2.50 points to end at 170.58 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) was up 1.42% or 2.07 points to 148.30 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which lost 4.31% or 2.50 points to trade at 55.56 in late trade. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) declined 1.91% or 7.31 points to end at 375.63 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shed 1.75% or 4.11 points to 230.10.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were LKQ Corporation (NASDAQ:LKQ) which rose 11.93% to 32.55, Varian Medical Systems Inc (NYSE:VAR) which was up 3.79% to settle at 119.55 and IHS Markit Ltd (NYSE:INFO) which gained 3.02% to close at 67.57.
The worst performers were DXC Technology Co (NYSE:DXC) which was down 10.99% to 32.48 in late trade, Helmerich and Payne Inc (NYSE:HP) which lost 4.43% to settle at 40.76 and Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) which was down 4.34% to 99.34 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Ruhnn Holding Ltd (NASDAQ:RUHN) which rose 47.37% to 7.00, SINTX Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:SINT) which was up 41.33% to settle at 2.120 and Pensare Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:WRLS) which gained 28.18% to close at 10.33.
The worst performers were Tocagen Inc (NASDAQ:TOCA) which was down 77.74% to 0.93 in late trade, Adverum Biotechnologies Inc (NASDAQ:ADVM) which lost 50.33% to settle at 5.96 and China Techfaith Wireless Communication Technology Ltd (NASDAQ:CNTF) which was down 39.57% to 0.2901 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1493 to 1466 and 85 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1371 rose and 1289 declined, while 90 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.67% to 14.22 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.25% or 3.70 to $1506.90 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 1.20% or 0.67 to hit $55.08 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract unchanged 0.00% or 0.00 to trade at $60.41 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.05% to 1.1066, while USD/JPY fell 0.02% to 108.06.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.28% at 98.352.