Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Technology, Utilities and Financials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.01%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.36%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.76%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which rose 2.55% or 7.26 points to trade at 291.60 at the close. Meanwhile, Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) added 0.76% or 1.13 points to end at 150.80 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was up 0.70% or 3.58 points to 512.81 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which fell 2.04% or 4.36 points to trade at 209.17 at the close. Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) declined 1.41% or 2.76 points to end at 192.55 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) was down 1.40% or 2.25 points to 158.83.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Catalent Inc (NYSE:CTLT) which rose 5.40% to 64.95, First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC) which was up 4.39% to settle at 14.03 and Signature Bank (OTC:SBNY) which gained 4.28% to close at 0.17.
The worst performers were SVB Financial Group (OTC:SIVBQ) which was down 12.09% to 0.80 in late trade, The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) which lost 5.66% to settle at 43.67 and FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) which was down 4.07% to 116.92 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were GlucoTrack Inc (NASDAQ:GCTK) which rose 221.71% to 1.19, Liquid Media Group Ltd (NASDAQ:YVR) which was up 87.42% to settle at 0.26 and Better Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:BTTX) which gained 47.88% to close at 1.22.
The worst performers were Jowell Global Ltd. (NASDAQ:JWEL) which was down 28.40% to 0.30 in late trade, Apollomics Inc (NASDAQ:APLM) which lost 25.26% to settle at 12.19 and MDJM Ltd (NASDAQ:MDJH) which was down 18.78% to 1.47 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1583 to 1353 and 128 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2070 rose and 1559 declined, while 164 ended unchanged.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.56% to 18.40 a new 1-month low.
Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.64% or 13.00 to $2,022.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.22% or 0.18 to hit $80.43 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 0.14% or 0.12 to trade at $84.87 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.17% to 1.09, while USD/JPY rose 0.39% to 131.82.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.04% at 101.58.