Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Thursday, as losses in the Telecoms, Consumer Services and Oil & Gas sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.14%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.17%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.18%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 1.08% or 1.39 points to trade at 129.99 at the close. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) added 0.92% or 0.70 points to end at 77.12 and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) was up 0.91% or 1.07 points to 118.82 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which lost 1.64% or 1.62 points to trade at 96.93 in late trade. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) declined 1.20% or 2.34 points to end at 192.92 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) shed 1.07% or 2.60 points to 239.80.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Host Hotels & Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST) which rose 3.91% to 19.40, XL Group Ltd (NYSE:XL) which was up 3.35% to settle at 40.67 and Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) which gained 3.22% to close at 45.95.
The worst performers were Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ:ULTA) which was down 8.53% to 190.16 in late trade, Pacific Gas & Electric Co (NYSE:PCG) which lost 6.72% to settle at 64.50 and AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) which was down 6.10% to 35.86 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:INFI) which rose 123.35% to 3.73, Akers Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:AKER) which was up 44.83% to settle at 1.260 and Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX) which gained 44.44% to close at 7.80.
The worst performers were AcelRx Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ACRX) which was down 59.81% to 2.150 in late trade, Helios and Matheson Analytics Inc (NASDAQ:HMNY) which lost 37.69% to settle at 20.500 and Nanostrg Te (NASDAQ:NSTG) which was down 27.84% to 11.30 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1547 to 1515 and 140 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1503 fell and 994 advanced, while 148 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.71% to 9.92.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.52% or 6.69 to $1295.59 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in November fell 1.25% or 0.64 to hit $50.66 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract fell 1.02% or 0.58 to trade at $56.36 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.23% to 1.1831, while USD/JPY fell 0.20% to 112.28.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.16% at 92.94.