Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Financials and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.10% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.19%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.21%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT), which rose 1.50% or 1.11 points to trade at 75.05 at the close. Meanwhile, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) added 1.39% or 2.03 points to end at 147.77 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) was up 1.32% or 3.01 points to 230.40 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were E I du Pont de Nemours & Co (NYSE:DD), which fell 1.23% or 1.04 points to trade at 83.80 at the close. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) declined 0.98% or 1.54 points to end at 155.04 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was down 0.65% or 1.21 points to 185.48.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) which rose 5.61% to 22.78, NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG) which was up 5.26% to settle at 22.20 and Urban Outfitters Inc (NASDAQ:URBN) which gained 4.99% to close at 18.50.
The worst performers were Twenty-First Century Fox Inc A (NASDAQ:FOXA) which was down 3.80% to 27.56 in late trade, Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX) which lost 3.48% to settle at 38.32 and Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ:FOX) which was down 3.21% to 27.40 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were The Bon-Ton Stores Inc (NASDAQ:BONT) which rose 143.67% to 0.770, Sphere 3D Corp (NASDAQ:ANY) which was up 65.32% to settle at 4.910 and MoSys Inc (NASDAQ:MOSY) which gained 26.50% to close at 1.4800.
The worst performers were ESSA Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:EPIX) which was down 28.00% to 0.342 in late trade, OpGen Inc (NASDAQ:OPGN) which lost 23.58% to settle at 0.320 and Lightbridge Corp (NASDAQ:LTBR) which was down 18.56% to 1.3600 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1605 to 1474 and 145 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1267 fell and 1194 advanced, while 157 ended unchanged.
Shares in NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG) rose to 52-week highs; rising 5.26% or 1.11 to 22.20. Shares in ESSA Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:EPIX) fell to all time lows; down 28.00% or 0.133 to 0.342. Shares in OpGen Inc (NASDAQ:OPGN) fell to all time lows; losing 23.58% or 0.099 to 0.320.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.20% to 9.97.
Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.12% or 1.44 to $1217.66 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 1.23% or 0.56 to hit $46.05 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 1.38% or 0.66 to trade at $48.40 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.11% to 1.1400, while USD/JPY rose 0.10% to 113.25.
The US Dollar Index Futures was unchanged 0.00% at 95.55.