Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Healthcare and Financials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.58%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.61%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.72%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which rose 1.56% or 3.32 points to trade at 216.51 at the close. Meanwhile, Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) added 1.36% or 0.79 points to end at 58.83 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) was up 1.32% or 1.06 points to 81.25 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO), which fell 0.31% or 0.09 points to trade at 28.94 at the close. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) declined 0.11% or 0.09 points to end at 80.45 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was down 0.07% or 0.08 points to 120.25.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Williams Companies Inc (NYSE:WMB) which rose 25.90% to 60.86, Cigna Corporation (NYSE:CI) which was up 4.73% to settle at 162.60 and ONEOK Inc (NYSE:OKE) which gained 4.48% to close at 40.79.
The worst performers were Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) which was down 6.11% to 189.94 in late trade, International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) which lost 2.87% to settle at 49.67 and Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE:NEM) which was down 2.84% to 23.95 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Sutron Corporation (NASDAQ:STRN) which rose 61.16% to 8.38, FreeSeas Inc (NASDAQ:FREE) which was up 32.05% to settle at 0.092 and Amedica Cor (NASDAQ:AMDA) which gained 29.63% to close at 0.700.
The worst performers were Local Corporation (NASDAQ:LOCM) which was down 22.58% to 0.300 in late trade, Ambarella Inc (NASDAQ:AMBA) which lost 20.94% to settle at 94.360 and Perseon Corp (NASDAQ:PRSN) which was down 12.84% to 0.285 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1999 to 1144 and 1 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1830 rose and 985 declined, while 3 ended unchanged.
Shares in Williams Companies Inc (NYSE:WMB) rose to all time highs; rising 25.90% or 12.52 to 60.86. Shares in Cigna Corporation (NYSE:CI) rose to all time highs; rising 4.73% or 7.34 to 162.60. Shares in Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) rose to 5-year highs; gaining 1.56% or 3.32 to 216.51. Shares in Sutron Corporation (NASDAQ:STRN) rose to 5-year highs; gaining 61.16% or 3.18 to 8.38.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 8.60% to 12.76.
Gold for August delivery was down 1.41% or 16.90 to $1185.00 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.47% or 0.28 to hit $60.25 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 0.45% or 0.28 to trade at $63.30 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.11% to 1.1341, while USD/JPY rose 0.55% to 123.39.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.22% at 94.52.