Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Utilities, Consumer Services and Telecoms sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.28% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.13%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.17%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (N:UNH), which rose 2.72% or 3.25 points to trade at 122.52 at the close. Meanwhile, Visa Inc (N:V) added 1.37% or 1.01 points to end at 74.99 and Nike Inc (N:NKE) was up 1.19% or 1.49 points to 126.43 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Caterpillar Inc (N:CAT), which fell 1.12% or 0.80 points to trade at 70.50 at the close. Chevron Corporation (N:CVX) declined 0.93% or 0.83 points to end at 88.74 and EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (N:DD) was down 0.93% or 0.52 points to 55.66.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (O:REGN) which rose 4.55% to 526.83, United Continental Holdings Inc (N:UAL) which was up 3.75% to settle at 57.80 and Electronic Arts Inc (O:EA) which gained 3.64% to close at 67.41.
The worst performers were Eli Lilly and Company (N:LLY) which was down 7.72% to 79.49 in late trade, Transocean Ltd (N:RIG) which lost 7.60% to settle at 15.69 and Chesapeake Energy Corporation (N:CHK) which was down 7.21% to 8.24 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were SGOCO Group Ltd (O:SGOC) which rose 32.50% to 0.530, Metabolix Inc (O:MBLX) which was up 27.93% to settle at 2.840 and Authentidate Holding Corp (O:ADAT) which gained 24.70% to close at 0.460.
The worst performers were Zafgen Inc (O:ZFGN) which was down 35.61% to 22.15 in late trade, Staffing 360 Solutions Inc (O:STAF) which lost 23.71% to settle at 4.730 and Uni-Pixel Inc (O:UNXL) which was down 21.93% to 1.46 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1317 to 1198 and 4 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1266 fell and 1159 advanced, while 114 ended unchanged.
Shares in Nike Inc (N:NKE) rose to all time highs; up 1.19% or 1.49 to 126.43.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 5.33% to 16.17 a new 1-month low.
Gold for December delivery was up 0.67% or 7.80 to $1163.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November fell 4.45% or 2.21 to hit $47.42 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract fell 4.29% or 2.27 to trade at $50.64 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.01% to 1.1362, while USD/JPY fell 0.16% to 120.02.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.04% at 94.89.