Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Telecoms and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.01%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.23%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.38%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 1.59% or 1.40 points to trade at 89.33 at the close. Meanwhile, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) added 1.02% or 1.33 points to end at 131.39 and Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) was up 0.64% or 0.93 points to 147.35 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were McDonald`s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), which fell 0.83% or 0.83 points to trade at 99.28 at the close. Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) declined 0.64% or 0.19 points to end at 29.43 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was down 0.64% or 0.78 points to 120.46.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) which rose 4.50% to 17.63, Transocean Ltd (NYSE:RIG) which was up 4.31% to settle at 20.09 and Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) which gained 3.94% to close at 35.11.
The worst performers were NetApp Inc (NASDAQ:NTAP) which was down 10.08% to 31.77 in late trade, Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:ATI) which lost 3.69% to settle at 34.41 and Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) which was down 2.81% to 62.89 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were AVEO Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AVEO) which rose 39.38% to 2.23, Neostem Inc (NASDAQ:NBS) which was up 28.26% to settle at 2.950 and China Cmrcl (NASDAQ:CCCR) which gained 22.39% to close at 1.64.
The worst performers were Prima BioMed Ltd (NASDAQ:PBMD) which was down 48.39% to 3.050 in late trade, China Information Technology Inc (NASDAQ:CNIT) which lost 31.66% to settle at 4.900 and KBS Fashion Group Ltd (NASDAQ:KBSF) which was down 20.00% to 3.96 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1618 to 1518 and 2 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1403 rose and 1398 declined, while 3 ended unchanged.
Shares in NetApp Inc (NASDAQ:NTAP) fell to 52-week lows; losing 10.08% or 3.56 to 31.77. Shares in AVEO Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AVEO) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 39.38% or 0.63 to 2.23.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 5.98% to 12.11 a new 3-months low.
Gold for June delivery was down 0.26% or 3.10 to $1205.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 2.91% or 1.72 to hit $60.70 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 2.30% or 1.50 to trade at $66.53 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.15% to 1.1111, while USD/JPY fell 0.23% to 121.06.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.19% at 95.47.