Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Utilities, Healthcare and Oil & Gas sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Technology, Consumer Goods and Consumer Services sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.47% to hit a new 52-week high, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.68%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 2.05%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which rose 6.07% or 9.64 points to trade at 168.38 at the close. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) added 3.03% or 10.31 points to end at 350.86 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was up 2.40% or 5.01 points to 213.61 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which lost 3.16% or 1.09 points to trade at 33.37 in late trade. Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) declined 2.65% or 6.21 points to end at 228.16 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shed 2.31% or 8.21 points to 346.87.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) which rose 9.98% to 37.90, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) which was up 6.07% to settle at 168.38 and Allstate Corp (NYSE:ALL) which gained 5.85% to close at 111.98.
The worst performers were Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) which was down 15.92% to 102.45 in late trade, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) which lost 9.74% to settle at 262.90 and Equifax Inc (NYSE:EFX) which was down 8.89% to 216.37 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Guardforce AI Co Ltd (NASDAQ:GFAI) which rose 57.46% to 6.44, Evelo Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:EVLO) which was up 52.40% to settle at 9.86 and Sirius XM Holding Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI) which gained 42.26% to close at 7.81.
The worst performers were Vir Biotechnology Inc (NASDAQ:VIR) which was down 44.90% to 12.70 in late trade, Netcapital Inc (NASDAQ:NCPL) which lost 41.88% to settle at 0.68 and Durect Corporation (NASDAQ:DRRX) which was down 33.13% to 3.29 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1704 to 1245 and 87 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2256 fell and 1268 advanced, while 139 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 1.67% to 13.99.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.45% or 9.00 to $1,971.80 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.61% or 0.46 to hit $75.75 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.29% or 0.23 to trade at $79.69 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.61% to 1.11, while USD/JPY rose 0.29% to 140.07.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.56% at 100.54.