U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.25%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Healthcare, Oil & Gas and Basic Materials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.25%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.43%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.06%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which rose 2.15% or 1.83 points to trade at 86.80 at the close. Meanwhile, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) added 1.81% or 0.80 points to end at 45.11 and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) was up 1.41% or 4.21 points to 302.75 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:V), which fell 1.31% or 2.86 points to trade at 216.15 at the close. Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) declined 0.68% or 0.42 points to end at 61.25 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) was down 0.67% or 2.11 points to 314.15.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ) which rose 14.75% to 40.06, Lamb Weston Holdings Inc (NYSE:LW) which was up 7.96% to settle at 65.25 and Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) which gained 5.67% to close at 228.19.

The worst performers were Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) which was down 5.40% to 48.03 in late trade, Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY) which lost 3.60% to settle at 120.95 and Discovery Inc Class A (NASDAQ:DISCA) which was down 3.53% to 23.08 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Medavail Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MDVL) which rose 64.43% to 1.41, Trevi Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:TRVI) which was up 56.84% to settle at 2.98 and Momentus Inc (NASDAQ:MNTS) which gained 48.81% to close at 4.39.

The worst performers were Blue Water Vaccines Inc (NASDAQ:BWV) which was down 82.77% to 10.17 in late trade, Aptinyx Inc (NASDAQ:APTX) which lost 49.15% to settle at 1.19 and Integrated Media Technology Ltd (NASDAQ:IMTE) which was down 36.11% to 13.11 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1741 to 1440 and 116 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2306 fell and 1521 advanced, while 197 ended unchanged.

Shares in HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ) rose to all time highs; rising 14.75% or 5.15 to 40.06. Shares in Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) fell to 52-week lows; down 0.67% or 2.11 to 314.15. Shares in Blue Water Vaccines Inc (NASDAQ:BWV) fell to all time lows; down 82.77% or 48.85 to 10.17. Shares in Trevi Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:TRVI) rose to 52-week highs; up 56.84% or 1.08 to 2.98. Shares in Aptinyx Inc (NASDAQ:APTX) fell to all time lows; losing 49.15% or 1.15 to 1.19.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.49% to 21.55.

Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.45% or 8.60 to $1,931.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 0.74% or 0.71 to hit $96.94 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 0.21% or 0.21 to trade at $101.28 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.21% to 1.09, while USD/JPY rose 0.17% to 124.00.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.20% at 99.81.