U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.29%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Technology, Consumer Services and Consumer Goods sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.29%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.53%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 1.56%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT), which rose 2.30% or 3.13 points to trade at 139.29 at the close. Meanwhile, Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN) added 1.77% or 4.05 points to end at 232.64 and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was up 1.67% or 2.07 points to 125.93 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which fell 4.53% or 8.96 points to trade at 188.85 at the close. Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) declined 2.68% or 5.64 points to end at 204.75 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was down 1.92% or 0.94 points to 47.93.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Kroger Company (NYSE:KR) which rose 11.61% to 55.10, Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) which was up 9.22% to settle at 110.14 and Brown Forman (NYSE:BFb) which gained 7.08% to close at 69.41.

The worst performers were EPAM Systems Inc (NYSE:EPAM) which was down 13.13% to 212.98 in late trade, IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ:IPGP) which lost 9.08% to settle at 114.00 and Match Group Inc (NASDAQ:MTCH) which was down 5.71% to 102.99 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were DBV Technologies (NASDAQ:DBVT) which rose 34.62% to 1.75, Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp (NASDAQ:TNXP) which was up 33.07% to settle at 0.25 and Apptech Corp (NASDAQ:APCX) which gained 28.04% to close at 1.37.

The worst performers were NuCana PLC (NASDAQ:NCNA) which was down 59.18% to 1.20 in late trade, VEON Ltd (NASDAQ:VEON) which lost 41.19% to settle at 0.26 and Grab Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:GRAB) which was down 37.28% to 3.28 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1836 to 1360 and 158 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2569 fell and 1254 advanced, while 237 ended unchanged.

Shares in Kroger Company (NYSE:KR) rose to all time highs; up 11.61% or 5.73 to 55.10. Shares in IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ:IPGP) fell to 52-week lows; down 9.08% or 11.38 to 114.00. Shares in Match Group Inc (NASDAQ:MTCH) fell to 52-week lows; down 5.71% or 6.24 to 102.99. Shares in NuCana PLC (NASDAQ:NCNA) fell to all time lows; down 59.18% or 1.74 to 1.20. Shares in VEON Ltd (NASDAQ:VEON) fell to all time lows; down 41.19% or 0.18 to 0.26. Shares in Grab Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:GRAB) fell to all time lows; losing 37.28% or 1.95 to 3.28.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.85% to 30.48.

Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.83% or 16.00 to $1,938.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 2.30% or 2.54 to hit $108.06 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.21% or 0.23 to trade at $110.64 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.02% to 1.11, while USD/JPY rose 0.00% to 115.46.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.33% at 97.74.