Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Utilities, Health Care and Financials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.21%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.12%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.32%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT), which rose 1.20% or 0.99 points to trade at 83.57 at the close. Meanwhile, International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) added 1.10% or 1.76 points to end at 161.18 and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) was up 1.00% or 1.15 points to 115.91 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which fell 1.17% or 0.40 points to trade at 33.72 at the close. McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) declined 1.14% or 1.14 points to end at 99.11 and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) was down 0.51% or 0.54 points to 105.03.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Kroger Company (NYSE:KR) which rose 6.69% to 74.31, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VRTX) which was up 5.76% to settle at 126.96 and Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) which gained 5.10% to close at 88.07.
The worst performers were AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) which was down 5.66% to 56.860 in late trade, Joy Global Inc (NYSE:JOY) which lost 5.20% to settle at 39.94 and H&R Block Inc (NYSE:HRB) which was down 4.22% to 32.01 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were SGOCO Group Ltd (NASDAQ:SGOC) which rose 42.86% to 0.700, KBS Fashion Group Ltd (NASDAQ:KBSF) which was up 35.07% to settle at 4.93 and Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) which gained 34.52% to close at 3.780.
The worst performers were Axion Power International Inc (NASDAQ:AXPW) which was down 18.26% to 0.19 in late trade, Capnia Inc (NASDAQ:CAPN) which lost 15.77% to settle at 7.37 and Dataram Corporation (NASDAQ:DRAM) which was down 15.72% to 2.773 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1545 to 1271 and 1 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1578 rose and 1180 declined, while 6 ended unchanged.
Shares in Kroger Company (NYSE:KR) rose to all time highs; gaining 6.69% or 4.66 to 74.31. Shares in Joy Global Inc (NYSE:JOY) fell to 3-year lows; falling 5.20% or 2.19 to 39.94. Shares in Axion Power International Inc (NASDAQ:AXPW) fell to all time lows; losing 18.26% or 0.04 to 0.19.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.19% to 14.06.
Gold for April delivery was down 0.27% or 3.20 to $1197.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude Oil for delivery in April fell 1.17% or 0.60 to hit $50.92 a barrel, while the April Brent Oil contract rose 0.21% or 0.12 to trade at $60.67 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.46% to 1.1027, while USD/JPY rose 0.39% to 120.15.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.43% at 96.40.