Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Financials, Technology and Oil & Gas sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.34%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.27%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.41%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which rose 1.14% or 0.70 points to trade at 62.33 at the close. Meanwhile, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) added 0.94% or 1.14 points to end at 122.02 and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) was up 0.46% or 0.24 points to 52.70 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which fell 1.76% or 1.93 points to trade at 107.51 at the close. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) declined 1.14% or 0.72 points to end at 62.47 and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) was down 0.87% or 0.76 points to 86.32.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Tiffany & Co (NYSE:TIF) which rose 3.85% to 80.73, AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) which was up 3.26% to settle at 84.19 and Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) which gained 2.75% to close at 77.33.
The worst performers were Cincinnati Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CINF) which was down 6.73% to 69.85 in late trade, Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) which lost 5.19% to settle at 58.63 and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which was down 4.03% to 15.23 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Transgenomi (NASDAQ:TBIO) which rose 324.03% to 1.2000, Cellect Biotechnology Ltd (NASDAQ:APOP) which was up 117.77% to settle at 7.23 and Memorial Production Partners LP (NASDAQ:MEMP) which gained 87.95% to close at 0.245.
The worst performers were Myos Rens Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MYOS) which was down 42.85% to 3.898 in late trade, Fuwei Films Holdings Co Ltd (NASDAQ:FFHL) which lost 37.00% to settle at 2.3436 and DragonWave Inc (NASDAQ:DRWI) which was down 20.69% to 2.3000 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1940 to 1172 and 80 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1701 fell and 781 advanced, while 93 ended unchanged.
Shares in Transgenomi (NASDAQ:TBIO) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 324.03% or 0.9170 to 1.2000. Shares in Cellect Biotechnology Ltd (NASDAQ:APOP) rose to all time highs; up 117.77% or 3.91 to 7.23.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 2.40% to 11.53.
Gold for February delivery was down 0.11% or 1.35 to $1195.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 1.61% or 0.84 to hit $53.09 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 1.80% or 0.99 to trade at $56.09 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.33% to 1.0618, while USD/JPY fell 0.65% to 114.63.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.28% at 101.42.