Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Healthcare, Consumer Goods and Utilities sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Oil & Gas, Telecoms and Basic Materials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.03%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.06%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.05%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 3M Company (NYSE:MMM), which rose 0.95% or 1.88 points to trade at 199.51 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 0.86% or 1.48 points to end at 174.02 and Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was up 0.78% or 0.34 points to 43.66 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which lost 2.12% or 2.15 points to trade at 99.39 in late trade. Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) declined 1.79% or 1.91 points to end at 104.81 and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) shed 1.28% or 1.06 points to 81.64.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) which rose 6.70% to 434.31, Willis Towers Watson PLC (NASDAQ:WLTW) which was up 6.22% to settle at 142.34 and Global Payments Inc (NYSE:GPN) which gained 6.21% to close at 86.14.
The worst performers were Frontier Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:FTR) which was down 11.18% to 1.43 in late trade, Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) which lost 7.40% to settle at 5.130 and Viacom B Inc (NASDAQ:VIAB) which was down 7.13% to 36.46 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were First NBC Bank Holding Company (NASDAQ:FNBC) which rose 147.46% to 0.61, Caredx Inc (NASDAQ:CDNA) which was up 35.63% to settle at 1.180 and Workhorse Group Inc (NASDAQ:WKHS) which gained 28.26% to close at 2.9500.
The worst performers were Terravia Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:TVIA) which was down 44.21% to 0.270 in late trade, Tuesday Morning Corp (NASDAQ:TUES) which lost 30.16% to settle at 2.20 and Windtree Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:WINT) which was down 26.84% to 0.812 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2059 to 1153 and 36 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1336 fell and 1153 advanced, while 121 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.78% to 10.49.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was down 1.50% or 18.78 to $1229.72 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in June fell 5.04% or 2.41 to hit $45.41 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 4.82% or 2.45 to trade at $48.34 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.91% to 1.0985, while USD/JPY fell 0.32% to 112.39.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.67% at 98.59.