Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Telecoms and Utilities sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.87%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.81%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.70%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 2.69% or 6.04 points to trade at 230.32 at the close. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) added 2.59% or 1.48 points to end at 58.65 and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) was up 1.53% or 0.73 points to 48.39 in late trade.
Biggest losers included General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which lost 1.19% or 0.16 points to trade at 13.33 in late trade. Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) declined 0.28% or 0.19 points to end at 67.06 and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) shed 0.11% or 0.11 points to 100.24.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were JB Hunt Transport Services Inc (NASDAQ:JBHT) which rose 6.19% to 119.75, CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS) which was up 4.21% to settle at 66.10 and Ecolab Inc (NYSE:ECL) which gained 4.09% to close at 146.96.
The worst performers were Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) which was down 7.79% to 54.08 in late trade, National Oilwell Varco Inc (NYSE:NOV) which lost 7.18% to settle at 37.98 and Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) which was down 4.09% to 43.35 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Cancer Genetics Inc (NASDAQ:CGIX) which rose 38.22% to 1.340, Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc (NASDAQ:HMNY) which was up 31.15% to settle at 4.210 and Real Goods Solar Inc (NASDAQ:RGSE) which gained 19.51% to close at 1.0200.
The worst performers were Celldex Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CLDX) which was down 64.60% to 0.76 in late trade, Acacia Communications Inc (NASDAQ:ACIA) which lost 35.97% to settle at 25.63 and Apricus Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:APRI) which was down 35.38% to 0.271 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2220 to 865 and 105 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1612 rose and 929 declined, while 134 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 5.63% to 16.43.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.07% or 1.00 to $1348.90 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 1.56% or 1.05 to hit $66.34 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 1.46% or 1.06 to trade at $71.52 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.42% to 1.2382, while USD/JPY fell 0.27% to 107.12.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.42% at 89.13.