Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Financials, Oil & Gas and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.29% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index added 1.34%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 1.59%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which rose 3.05% or 4.52 points to trade at 152.66 at the close. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) added 2.34% or 1.79 points to end at 78.22 and Visa Inc (NYSE:V) was up 2.21% or 1.69 points to 78.23 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which lost 0.82% or 0.45 points to trade at 54.12 in late trade. Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) added 0.23% or 0.23 points to end at 99.02 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) gained 0.32% or 0.11 points to 34.59.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) which rose 10.46% to 14.05, Transocean Ltd (NYSE:RIG) which was up 5.53% to settle at 12.03 and Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) which gained 5.09% to close at 50.81.
The worst performers were Scripps Networks Interactive Inc (NASDAQ:SNI) which was down 1.94% to 62.19 in late trade, Red Hat Inc (NYSE:RHT) which lost 1.71% to settle at 78.39 and Southwest Airlines Company (NYSE:LUV) which was down 1.66% to 39.59 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Zais Group Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ZAIS) which rose 185.11% to 4.020, Heat Biolog (NASDAQ:HTBX) which was up 27.00% to settle at 0.800 and Genocea Bioscnc (NASDAQ:GNCA) which gained 26.56% to close at 4.670.
The worst performers were KBS Fashion Group Ltd (NASDAQ:KBSF) which was down 36.89% to 0.4102 in late trade, Epirus Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:EPRS) which lost 18.30% to settle at 0.543 and Biostar Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:BSPM) which was down 18.25% to 3.2700 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2671 to 626 and 26 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2023 rose and 562 declined, while 53 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 17.86% to 17.39.
In commodities trading, Gold for August delivery was down 0.80% or 10.10 to $1259.90 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 2.02% or 0.99 to hit $50.12 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 2.13% or 1.06 to trade at $50.94 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.87% to 1.1395, while USD/JPY rose 1.58% to 106.06.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.55% at 93.29.