Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Technology, Consumer Goods and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.75%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.86%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 1.12%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which rose 2.59% or 1.28 points to trade at 50.75 at the close. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) added 1.87% or 2.29 points to end at 125.00 and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was up 1.68% or 1.31 points to 79.21 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX), which lost 0.60% or 0.75 points to trade at 123.98 in late trade. The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) declined 0.14% or 0.17 points to end at 122.60 and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) gained 0.02% or 0.03 points to 124.95.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Qorvo Inc (NASDAQ:QRVO) which rose 5.66% to 81.82, Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:SWKS) which was up 4.40% to settle at 99.66 and Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) which gained 3.71% to close at 57.38.
The worst performers were Acuity Brands Inc (NYSE:AYI) which was down 4.51% to 126.10 in late trade, CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE:CF) which lost 2.73% to settle at 43.05 and Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) which was down 2.68% to 20.70 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Differential Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:DFBG) which rose 57.28% to 4.860, Xplore Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:XPLR) which was up 44.90% to settle at 5.970 and Real Goods Solar Inc (NASDAQ:RGSE) which gained 32.50% to close at 0.5300.
The worst performers were Amedica Corp (NASDAQ:AMDA) which was down 15.89% to 0.740 in late trade, American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:AMSC) which lost 15.72% to settle at 5.95 and Biocept Inc (NASDAQ:BIOC) which was down 16.27% to 0.175 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2235 to 842 and 112 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1799 rose and 784 declined, while 107 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 7.13% to 14.99.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.37% or 4.60 to $1258.10 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 1.50% or 1.11 to hit $73.03 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 0.73% or 0.57 to trade at $77.67 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.29% to 1.1690, while USD/JPY rose 0.14% to 110.65.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.04% at 94.15.