Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Healthcare, Basic Materials and Consumer Services sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.65% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.76%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.78%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 2.51% or 4.40 points to trade at 179.58 at the close. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) added 1.78% or 3.75 points to end at 215.01 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) was up 1.74% or 1.34 points to 78.28 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which fell 0.97% or 0.51 points to trade at 52.30 at the close. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) declined 0.28% or 0.13 points to end at 46.51 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was down 0.17% or 0.31 points to 187.32.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Signet Jewelers Ltd (NYSE:SIG) which rose 8.96% to 52.41, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ:GT) which was up 7.23% to settle at 34.55 and Patterson Companies Inc (NASDAQ:PDCO) which gained 6.73% to close at 47.13.
The worst performers were Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE) which was down 6.86% to 17.52 in late trade, Analog Devices Inc (NASDAQ:ADI) which lost 4.14% to settle at 82.21 and Extra Space Storage Inc (NYSE:EXR) which was down 2.19% to 75.77 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were ChinaCache International Holdings (NASDAQ:CCIH) which rose 45.65% to 1.34, Spi Energy Co Ltd (NASDAQ:SPI) which was up 35.51% to settle at 1.87 and Inventergy (NASDAQ:INVT) which gained 32.30% to close at 0.188.
The worst performers were Neothetics Inc (NASDAQ:NEOT) which was down 17.62% to 2.01 in late trade, LiNiu Technology Group (NASDAQ:LINU) which lost 14.48% to settle at 0.620 and Tantech Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:TANH) which was down 13.77% to 2.13 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2562 to 663 and 33 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1891 rose and 644 declined, while 100 ended unchanged.
Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) rose to all time highs; up 2.51% or 4.40 to 179.58.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 5.28% to 9.86.
Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.46% or 5.84 to $1266.16 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 0.50% or 0.24 to hit $48.08 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 0.75% or 0.38 to trade at $50.38 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.27% to 1.1214, while USD/JPY rose 0.51% to 111.35.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.26% at 97.16.