Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Technology, Healthcare and Consumer Goods sectors led shares higher.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.06% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index added 1.08%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 1.39%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which rose 2.33% or 2.94 points to trade at 128.95 at the close. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 2.30% or 2.67 points to end at 118.53 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was up 2.30% or 1.09 points to 48.72 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO), which fell 1.02% or 0.30 points to trade at 29.05 at the close. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) added 0.34% or 0.30 points to end at 88.74 and McDonald`s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) was up 0.37% or 0.36 points to 97.71.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE:CSC) which rose 4.29% to 67.28, Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) which was up 3.95% to settle at 17.91 and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) which gained 3.81% to close at 74.45.
The worst performers were Kohl`s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) which was down 13.27% to 64.62 in late trade, ENSCO plc (NYSE:ESV) which lost 4.86% to settle at 26.02 and Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) which was down 4.42% to 17.10 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Vascular Biogenc (NASDAQ:VBLT) which rose 57.84% to 6.44, QKL Stores Inc (NASDAQ:QKLS) which was up 35.37% to settle at 3.100 and Oncothyreon Inc (NASDAQ:ONTY) which gained 36.49% to close at 2.02.
The worst performers were Giga-tronics Incorporated (NASDAQ:GIGA) which was down 25.80% to 2.100 in late trade, Health Insurance Innovations Inc (NASDAQ:HIIQ) which lost 24.39% to settle at 5.860 and One Horizon (NASDAQ:OHGI) which was down 24.33% to 1.99 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2317 to 812 and 2 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1926 rose and 866 declined, while 3 ended unchanged.
Shares in Health Insurance Innovations Inc (NASDAQ:HIIQ) fell to all time lows; down 24.39% or 1.890 to 5.860.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 7.34% to 12.75.
Gold for June delivery was up 0.20% or 2.40 to $1220.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June fell 1.31% or 0.80 to hit $59.70 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 0.83% or 0.56 to trade at $66.71 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.52% to 1.1413, while USD/JPY rose 0.04% to 119.20.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.36% at 93.40.