Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Telecoms and Technology sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.71%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.61%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.53%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX), which rose 2.58% or 3.03 points to trade at 120.68 at the close. Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) added 1.82% or 1.33 points to end at 74.31 and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was up 1.71% or 2.30 points to 136.68 in late trade.
Biggest losers included The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV), which lost 0.57% or 0.85 points to trade at 149.00 in late trade. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) declined 0.39% or 0.95 points to end at 241.82 and Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) shed 0.33% or 0.27 points to 82.45.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) which rose 7.86% to 31.82, International Flavors & Fragrances Inc (NYSE:IFF) which was up 5.22% to settle at 148.52 and TechnipFMC PLC (NYSE:FTI) which gained 4.10% to close at 22.34.
The worst performers were L Brands Inc (NYSE:LB) which was down 4.14% to 22.71 in late trade, Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) which lost 3.75% to settle at 35.91 and Range Resources Corp (NYSE:RRC) which was down 3.29% to 7.49 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co (NASDAQ:LJPC) which rose 92.48% to 10.24, ContraVir Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CTRV) which was up 41.60% to settle at 7.0800 and Insys Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:INSY) which gained 33.40% to close at 1.15.
The worst performers were Kirklands Inc (NASDAQ:KIRK) which was down 50.35% to 2.10 in late trade, Motif Bio PLC (NASDAQ:MTFB) which lost 43.22% to settle at 1.13 and Mammoth Energy Services Inc (NASDAQ:TUSK) which was down 35.89% to 6.11 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1686 to 1290 and 114 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1586 fell and 1061 advanced, while 103 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.99% to 15.93.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.45% or 5.95 to $1339.55 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 2.88% or 1.49 to hit $53.17 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract unchanged 0.00% or 0.00 to trade at $62.23 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.04% to 1.1279, while USD/JPY fell 0.02% to 108.38.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.27% at 96.987.