Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Thursday, as losses in the Technology, Utilities and Industrials sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.02%, while the S&P 500 index lost 1.16%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 1.47%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX), which rose 1.80% or 3.10 points to trade at 175.24 at the close. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) added 1.39% or 0.57 points to end at 41.70 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 1.39% or 1.56 points to 113.64 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which lost 6.14% or 2.30 points to trade at 35.19 in late trade. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) declined 2.96% or 6.79 points to end at 222.31 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shed 2.88% or 14.54 points to 489.96.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Lamb Weston Holdings Inc (NYSE:LW) which rose 9.77% to 96.03, Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) which was up 6.60% to settle at 35.23 and Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) which gained 5.83% to close at 126.59.
The worst performers were Constellation Brands Inc Class A (NYSE:STZ) which was down 9.72% to 208.68 in late trade, ServiceNow Inc (NYSE:NOW) which lost 6.99% to settle at 366.32 and Sherwin-Williams Co (NYSE:SHW) which was down 6.73% to 227.75 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Bellerophon Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:BLPH) which rose 150.33% to 2.29, Magic Empire Global Ltd (NASDAQ:MEGL) which was up 75.57% to settle at 2.30 and ABVC Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:ABVC) which gained 72.58% to close at 1.07.
The worst performers were Lucira Health Inc (NASDAQ:LHDX) which was down 32.13% to 0.29 in late trade, TC BioPharm Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:TCBP) which lost 28.63% to settle at 3.49 and Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (NASDAQ:BBBY) which was down 29.88% to 1.69 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1869 to 1218 and 108 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2168 fell and 1579 advanced, while 169 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 2.04% to 22.46.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was down 1.09% or 20.35 to $1,838.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 1.33% or 0.97 to hit $73.81 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 1.18% or 0.92 to trade at $78.76 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.75% to 1.05, while USD/JPY rose 0.58% to 133.38.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.87% at 104.92.