Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Thursday, as losses in the Technology, Healthcare and Utilities sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.08%, while the S&P 500 index fell 1.01%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 1.64%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), which rose 0.38% or 0.29 points to trade at 77.45 at the close. Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) added 0.22% or 0.17 points to end at 78.05 and Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was up 0.17% or 0.07 points to 40.56 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which lost 2.71% or 3.49 points to trade at 125.15 in late trade. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) declined 1.95% or 2.21 points to end at 111.40 and Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) shed 1.92% or 2.81 points to 143.34.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were ENSCO plc (NYSE:ESV) which rose 9.56% to 27.28, Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) which was up 9.04% to settle at 17.31 and Transocean Ltd (NYSE:RIG) which gained 7.24% to close at 18.82.
The worst performers were Harman International Industries (NYSE:HAR) which was down 7.00% to 130.38 in late trade, Varian Medical Systems Inc (NYSE:VAR) which lost 6.30% to settle at 88.85 and Air Products and Chemicals Inc (NYSE:APD) which was down 5.56% to 143.43 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were LightPath Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:LPTH) which rose 30.29% to 1.140, Motricity (NASDAQ:VLTC) which was up 28.40% to settle at 10.670 and ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:CKSW) which gained 26.48% to close at 12.42.
The worst performers were CTC Media Inc (NASDAQ:CTCM) which was down 18.08% to 3.49 in late trade, Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:INO) which lost 17.16% to settle at 8.160 and Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:PCRX) which was down 16.61% to 68.48 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2493 to 645; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2180 fell and 623 advanced, while 5 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 8.66% to 14.55.
In commodities trading, Gold for June delivery was down 2.24% or 27.10 to $1182.90 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 1.89% or 1.10 to hit $59.69 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 1.33% or 0.88 to trade at $66.72 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.85% to 1.1223, while USD/JPY rose 0.33% to 119.42.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.46% at 94.87.