Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Utilities sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.31%, while the S&P 500 index lost 1.18%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.73%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 0.92% or 3.25 points to trade at 354.95 at the close. Meanwhile, Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) added 0.07% or 0.11 points to end at 148.09 and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was down 0.11% or 0.15 points to 141.92 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which fell 3.67% or 1.70 points to trade at 44.65 at the close. Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) declined 2.76% or 1.44 points to end at 50.77 and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was down 2.76% or 3.24 points to 113.96.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Clorox Co (NYSE:CLX) which rose 2.05% to 206.75, Equifax Inc (NYSE:EFX) which was up 2.10% to settle at 162.53 and Anthem Inc (NYSE:ANTM) which gained 2.03% to close at 329.95.
The worst performers were Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) which was down 7.16% to 15.05 in late trade, Fox Corp Class A (NASDAQ:FOXA) which lost 7.14% to settle at 25.50 and Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC) which was down 6.99% to 34.59 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Imac Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:IMAC) which rose 85.47% to 1.545, EuroDry Ltd (NASDAQ:EDRY) which was up 73.72% to settle at 7.80 and Pyxis Tankers Inc (NASDAQ:PXS) which gained 37.07% to close at 1.150.
The worst performers were Aemetis Inc (NASDAQ:AMTX) which was down 39.26% to 2.1200 in late trade, Tellurian Inc (NASDAQ:TELL) which lost 28.37% to settle at 0.90 and Sundial Growers Inc (NASDAQ:SNDL) which was down 23.06% to 0.30 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2289 to 602 and 65 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1994 fell and 775 advanced, while 54 ended unchanged.
Shares in Anthem Inc (NYSE:ANTM) rose to all time highs; gaining 2.03% or 6.58 to 329.95. Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) rose to all time highs; gaining 0.92% or 3.25 to 354.95. Shares in Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) rose to all time highs; up 0.07% or 0.11 to 148.09.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 12.67% to 26.42.
Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.70% or 13.00 to $1874.60 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 0.97% or 0.40 to hit $41.05 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 0.80% or 0.35 to trade at $43.45 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.24% to 1.1805, while USD/JPY fell 0.31% to 105.09.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.05% at 92.975.