Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Financials, Basic Materials and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.24% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.58%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 1.01%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which rose 2.76% or 1.40 points to trade at 51.85 at the close. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) added 2.37% or 5.30 points to end at 228.66 and Visa Inc (NYSE:V) was up 2.06% or 1.56 points to 77.28 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which fell 1.93% or 3.11 points to trade at 157.62 at the close. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) declined 1.42% or 0.87 points to end at 60.26 and Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) was down 1.31% or 0.93 points to 69.95.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) which rose 7.30% to 32.35, Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) which was up 5.67% to settle at 38.42 and Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE:SWN) which gained 5.36% to close at 12.29.
The worst performers were Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET) which was down 3.03% to 129.44 in late trade, Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) which lost 2.35% to settle at 290.22 and Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) which was down 2.22% to 208.89 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Neovasc Inc (NASDAQ:NVCN) which rose 65.12% to 1.420, Vanguard Natural Resources LLC (NASDAQ:VNR) which was up 47.35% to settle at 1.340 and Biomerica Inc (NASDAQ:BMRA) which gained 38.10% to close at 2.900.
The worst performers were Interpace Diagnostics Group Inc (NASDAQ:IDXG) which was down 15.06% to 0.1190 in late trade, Euroseas Ltd (NASDAQ:ESEA) which lost 14.61% to settle at 1.870 and Hudson Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:HDSN) which was down 14.18% to 6.840 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2266 to 892 and 81 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1873 rose and 615 declined, while 144 ended unchanged.
Shares in Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) rose to 5-year highs; rising 2.37% or 5.30 to 228.66.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 13.74% to 12.18 a new 1-month low.
Gold for February delivery was down 0.46% or 5.45 to $1172.35 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 1.22% or 0.63 to hit $51.05 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 0.37% or 0.20 to trade at $54.26 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.94% to 1.0763, while USD/JPY rose 0.25% to 113.80.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.59% at 100.16.