Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Consumer Services, Financials and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.10%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.39%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.62%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD), which rose 2.93% or 3.67 points to trade at 129.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) added 1.77% or 0.90 points to end at 51.58 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was up 1.73% or 1.03 points to 60.68 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO), which fell 5.07% or 1.60 points to trade at 29.97 at the close. Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) declined 3.35% or 2.39 points to end at 69.00 and Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) was down 0.85% or 1.25 points to 145.19.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) which rose 14.92% to 46.48, NetApp Inc (NASDAQ:NTAP) which was up 6.42% to settle at 36.96 and Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) which gained 4.88% to close at 19.13.
The worst performers were Mallinckrodt (NYSE:MNK) which was down 6.34% to 55.87 in late trade, First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) which lost 5.77% to settle at 30.93 and Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) which was down 5.07% to 29.97 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Superconductor Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:SCON) which rose 90.08% to 2.4900, Hongli Clean Energy Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:CETC) which was up 68.86% to settle at 6.3999 and Bonso Electronics International Inc (NASDAQ:BNSO) which gained 56.10% to close at 2.685.
The worst performers were DryShips Inc (NASDAQ:DRYS) which was down 81.45% to 13.54 in late trade, Diana Containerships Inc (NASDAQ:DCIX) which lost 62.05% to settle at 4.8800 and Globus Maritime Ltd (NASDAQ:GLBS) which was down 60.59% to 5.6080 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1668 to 1505 and 72 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1515 rose and 985 declined, while 112 ended unchanged.
Shares in Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) rose to 5-year highs; up 14.92% or 6.04 to 46.48. Shares in NetApp Inc (NASDAQ:NTAP) rose to 52-week highs; rising 6.42% or 2.23 to 36.96. Shares in First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) fell to 3-years lows; losing 5.77% or 1.90 to 30.93. Shares in Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 4.88% or 0.89 to 19.13.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.48% to 13.38.
Gold for December delivery was down 0.93% or 11.35 to $1212.55 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 1.21% or 0.55 to hit $45.02 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 1.07% or 0.50 to trade at $46.13 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.64% to 1.0623, while USD/JPY rose 0.80% to 109.95.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.61% at 100.99.