U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.64%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Healthcare, Utilities and Telecoms sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.64%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.95%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 1.62%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM), which rose 3.34% or 5.60 points to trade at 173.05 at the close. Meanwhile, Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) added 3.19% or 2.84 points to end at 92.00 and Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) was up 2.94% or 3.08 points to 108.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which fell 4.88% or 9.16 points to trade at 178.67 at the close. Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) declined 3.68% or 5.44 points to end at 142.43 and Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) was down 2.45% or 1.28 points to 51.06.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Autodesk Inc (NASDAQ:ADSK) which rose 8.43% to 183.41, FactSet Research Systems Inc (NYSE:FDS) which was up 8.01% to settle at 388.76 and Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) which gained 7.06% to close at 163.58.

The worst performers were The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) which was down 9.57% to 45.24 in late trade, CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE:CF) which lost 9.01% to settle at 80.60 and Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) which was down 7.60% to 104.53 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Blue Hat Interactive Entertainment  (NASDAQ:BHAT) which rose 263.03% to 2.73, FStar Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:FSTX) which was up 59.80% to settle at 6.36 and TDH Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PETZ) which gained 54.74% to close at 2.94.

The worst performers were Applied Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:APLT) which was down 28.97% to 0.76 in late trade, Advent Technologies Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ADN) which lost 21.91% to settle at 2.53 and Aeroclean Technologies LLC (NASDAQ:AERC) which was down 19.78% to 11.88 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1879 to 1291 and 90 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2435 rose and 1366 declined, while 180 ended unchanged.

Shares in Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) fell to 52-week lows; losing 4.88% or 9.16 to 178.67. Shares in Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) fell to 52-week lows; falling 2.45% or 1.28 to 51.06. Shares in Applied Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:APLT) fell to all time lows; down 28.97% or 0.31 to 0.76.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.41% to 29.07.

Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.66% or 12.10 to $1,826.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 1.86% or 1.97 to hit $104.22 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract fell 1.59% or 1.78 to trade at $109.96 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.41% to 1.05, while USD/JPY fell 0.93% to 134.99.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.17% at 104.16.