Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Consumer Services, Technology and Utilities sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.34% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.44%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.69%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 1.40% or 2.46 points to trade at 178.05 at the close. The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) added 1.37% or 1.67 points to end at 123.72 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was up 1.24% or 0.85 points to 69.62 in late trade.
Biggest losers included E I du Pont de Nemours & Co (NYSE:DD), which lost 1.26% or 0.99 points to trade at 77.39 in late trade. General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) declined 1.22% or 0.34 points to end at 27.49 and Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) shed 1.04% or 1.11 points to 105.11.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) which rose 21.48% to 61.25, PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH) which was up 4.84% to settle at 106.98 and CSRA Inc (NYSE:CSRA) which gained 4.62% to close at 31.01.
The worst performers were Signet Jewelers Ltd (NYSE:SIG) which was down 7.76% to 50.30 in late trade, Transocean Ltd (NYSE:RIG) which lost 7.57% to settle at 9.65 and Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) which was down 7.09% to 13.50 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Spi Energy Co Ltd (NASDAQ:SPI) which rose 319.57% to 1.93, OpGen Inc (NASDAQ:OPGN) which was up 37.04% to settle at 0.740 and Aerie Pharmace (NASDAQ:AERI) which gained 33.95% to close at 54.25.
The worst performers were Globus Maritime Ltd (NASDAQ:GLBS) which was down 25.30% to 1.2400 in late trade, GTX Inc (NASDAQ:GTXI) which lost 20.89% to settle at 3.3700 and Naked Brand Group Inc (NASDAQ:NAKD) which was down 15.98% to 2.050 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1649 to 1585 and 36 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1297 rose and 1215 declined, while 120 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.40% to 9.98.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.18% or 2.27 to $1255.37 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 4.96% or 2.55 to hit $48.81 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 4.78% or 2.58 to trade at $51.38 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.09% to 1.1209, while USD/JPY rose 0.30% to 111.83.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.21% at 97.15.