Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.77%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.21%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.01%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX), which rose 3.19% or 4.12 points to trade at 133.38 at the close. Meanwhile, Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) added 2.31% or 3.59 points to end at 158.82 and DowDuPont Inc (NYSE:DWDP) was up 1.66% or 1.18 points to 72.14 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO), which fell 0.59% or 0.26 points to trade at 43.05 at the close. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) declined 0.54% or 1.42 points to end at 261.98 and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was down 0.31% or 0.47 points to 153.49.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) which rose 20.15% to 3.160, Scana Corporation (NYSE:SCG) which was up 9.31% to settle at 39.67 and TechnipFMC PLC (NYSE:FTI) which gained 4.90% to close at 30.52.
The worst performers were Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL) which was down 17.94% to 61.47 in late trade, Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA) which lost 5.19% to settle at 35.27 and Synopsys Inc (NASDAQ:SNPS) which was down 3.65% to 85.23 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were My Size Inc (NASDAQ:MYSZ) which rose 39.97% to 1.82, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings (NASDAQ:AAWW) which was up 18.31% to settle at 65.37 and Allied Healthcare Products Inc (NASDAQ:AHPI) which gained 16.99% to close at 2.6790.
The worst performers were Advaxis Inc (NASDAQ:ADXS) which was down 27.29% to 1.82 in late trade, SpartanNash Co (NASDAQ:SPTN) which lost 23.05% to settle at 17.03 and Applied Opt (NASDAQ:AAOI) which was down 21.52% to 27.11 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1702 to 1417 and 31 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1392 fell and 1099 advanced, while 119 ended unchanged.
Shares in Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL) fell to 5-year lows; down 17.94% or 13.44 to 61.47. Shares in Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA) fell to 52-week lows; down 5.19% or 1.93 to 35.27. Shares in Advaxis Inc (NASDAQ:ADXS) fell to 5-year lows; down 27.29% or 0.69 to 1.82. Shares in SpartanNash Co (NASDAQ:SPTN) fell to 3-years lows; down 23.05% or 5.10 to 17.03. Shares in Applied Opt (NASDAQ:AAOI) fell to 52-week lows; falling 21.52% or 7.43 to 27.11.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.05% to 20.03.
Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.04% or 0.50 to $1332.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 1.52% or 0.94 to hit $62.62 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 1.24% or 0.81 to trade at $66.23 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.33% to 1.2323, while USD/JPY fell 0.99% to 106.70.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.36% at 89.71.