Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Telecoms, Industrials and Financials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.06%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.04%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.16%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which rose 3.20% or 1.99 points to trade at 64.09 at the close. Meanwhile, Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) added 2.31% or 0.70 points to end at 31.20 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) was up 0.91% or 1.06 points to 117.61 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which fell 1.51% or 1.44 points to trade at 93.67 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) declined 1.31% or 2.13 points to end at 160.58 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was down 0.91% or 1.49 points to 162.48.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (NYSE:MJN) which rose 22.10% to 84.86, Macy’s Inc (NYSE:M) which was up 5.19% to settle at 30.73 and Citrix Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CTXS) which gained 4.98% to close at 74.79.
The worst performers were Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) which was down 12.18% to 76.73 in late trade, E-TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC) which lost 9.67% to settle at 33.95 and Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) which was down 8.69% to 89.50 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Benitec Biopharma Ltd (NASDAQ:BNTC) which rose 128.12% to 3.6500, Naked Brand Group Inc (NASDAQ:NAKD) which was up 134.07% to settle at 2.739 and Tenax Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:TENX) which gained 53.85% to close at 0.876.
The worst performers were Vanguard Natural Resources LLC (NASDAQ:VNR) which was down 63.28% to 0.363 in late trade, Stemline Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:STML) which lost 42.46% to settle at 5.610 and China Customer Relations Centers Inc (NASDAQ:CCRC) which was down 21.84% to 14.28 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1643 to 1483 and 87 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1389 fell and 1062 advanced, while 128 ended unchanged.
Shares in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) fell to 5-year lows; falling 12.18% or 10.64 to 76.73. Shares in Vanguard Natural Resources LLC (NASDAQ:VNR) fell to all time lows; falling 63.28% or 0.625 to 0.363.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 1.52% to 11.99.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.77% or 9.25 to $1217.55 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 0.48% or 0.26 to hit $53.62 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 0.30% or 0.17 to trade at $56.63 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.07% to 1.0761, while USD/JPY fell 0.50% to 112.67.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.10% at 99.79.