Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Financials, Industrials and Telecoms sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.33%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.29%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.28%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), which rose 2.05% or 1.68 points to trade at 83.70 at the close. Meanwhile, American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) added 1.23% or 0.96 points to end at 79.21 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) was up 1.21% or 2.77 points to 231.22 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which fell 1.13% or 0.64 points to trade at 56.04 at the close. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) declined 0.44% or 0.40 points to end at 90.20 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was down 0.29% or 0.18 points to 63.45.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) which rose 8.81% to 50.00, Frontier Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:FTR) which was up 5.45% to settle at 2.13 and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which gained 4.64% to close at 13.31.
The worst performers were Akamai Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:AKAM) which was down 4.59% to 60.53 in late trade, CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE:CF) which lost 3.86% to settle at 29.67 and Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE:COG) which was down 3.73% to 23.24 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Xenetic Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:XBIO) which rose 44.30% to 5.440, Prana Biotechnology Ltd (NASDAQ:PRAN) which was up 37.10% to settle at 3.4000 and Ocean Rig UDW Inc (NASDAQ:ORIG) which gained 32.21% to close at 0.3009.
The worst performers were Cartesian I (NASDAQ:CRTN) which was down 27.03% to 0.810 in late trade, lululemon athletica inc (NASDAQ:LULU) which lost 23.44% to settle at 50.76 and Wins Finance Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:WINS) which was down 17.50% to 224.41 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1897 to 1323 and 46 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1532 rose and 1003 declined, while 80 ended unchanged.
Shares in lululemon athletica inc (NASDAQ:LULU) fell to 52-week lows; losing 23.44% or 15.54 to 50.76.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 1.14% to 11.55.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.87% or 10.90 to $1242.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 1.74% or 0.86 to hit $50.37 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 1.05% or 0.55 to trade at $53.09 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.77% to 1.0682, while USD/JPY rose 0.68% to 111.80.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.60% at 100.38.