Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Utilities, Healthcare and Telecoms sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.22%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.17%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.11%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 1.06% or 1.25 points to trade at 119.30 at the close. Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) added 1.00% or 1.41 points to end at 143.03 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) was up 0.97% or 0.96 points to 100.14 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), which lost 0.68% or 0.69 points to trade at 101.14 in late trade. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) declined 0.39% or 0.23 points to end at 58.93 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shed 0.36% or 0.17 points to 46.44.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Citrix Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CTXS) which rose 6.70% to 70.39, Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) which was up 4.86% to settle at 68.83 and Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) which gained 4.15% to close at 86.63.
The worst performers were Transocean Ltd (NYSE:RIG) which was down 5.03% to 18.12 in late trade, Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) which lost 4.21% to settle at 12.51 and Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc (NYSE:DO) which was down 4.19% to 29.01 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Citizens First Corporation (NASDAQ:CZFC) which rose 34.82% to 16.96, Real Goods Solar Inc (NASDAQ:RGSE) which was up 28.04% to settle at 3.470 and iDreamSky Technology Limited (NASDAQ:DSKY) which gained 19.71% to close at 13.36.
The worst performers were Marathon Pa (NASDAQ:MARA) which was down 37.20% to 3.36 in late trade, RLJ Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:RLJE) which lost 28.80% to settle at 0.420 and Metabolix Inc (NASDAQ:MBLX) which was down 12.83% to 3.330 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1812 to 1311 and 2 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1419 rose and 1399 declined, while 3 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.72% to 12.86.
In commodities trading, Gold for August delivery was down 0.47% or 5.60 to $1181.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 1.31% or 0.81 to hit $60.62 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 1.15% or 0.76 to trade at $64.94 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.53% to 1.1263, while USD/JPY rose 0.63% to 123.42.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.40% at 94.97.