Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Healthcare and Utilities sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.42%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.62%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.85%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 6.96% or 9.34 points to trade at 143.47 at the close. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) added 2.10% or 3.55 points to end at 172.55 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was up 1.23% or 0.46 points to 37.75 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which fell 2.62% or 3.10 points to trade at 115.39 at the close. International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) declined 2.59% or 4.01 points to end at 150.76 and McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) was down 1.06% or 1.19 points to 111.22.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) which rose 19.03% to 118.79, Harley-Davidson Inc (NYSE:HOG) which was up 8.97% to settle at 54.16 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) which gained 6.96% to close at 143.47.
The worst performers were Urban Outfitters Inc (NASDAQ:URBN) which was down 4.34% to 33.26 in late trade, WW Grainger Inc (NYSE:GWW) which lost 4.20% to settle at 205.56 and Delphi Automotive plc (NYSE:DLPH) which was down 3.51% to 64.09 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were MakeMyTrip Limited (NASDAQ:MMYT) which rose 44.36% to 29.45, Spherix Incorporated (NASDAQ:SPEX) which was up 31.30% to settle at 1.5100 and Ritter Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:RTTR) which gained 22.99% to close at 2.300.
The worst performers were Ultrapetrol Ltd (NASDAQ:ULTR) which was down 65.98% to 0.0847 in late trade, Capstone Turbine Corp (NASDAQ:CPST) which lost 17.29% to settle at 1.100 and Moleculin Biotech Inc (NASDAQ:MBRX) which was down 15.44% to 2.41 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2381 to 778 and 81 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1547 rose and 896 declined, while 164 ended unchanged.
Shares in MakeMyTrip Limited (NASDAQ:MMYT) rose to 52-week highs; up 44.36% or 9.05 to 29.45. Shares in Moleculin Biotech Inc (NASDAQ:MBRX) fell to all time lows; falling 15.44% or 0.44 to 2.41.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 5.49% to 15.32.
Gold for December delivery was up 0.51% or 6.40 to $1263.00 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 0.90% or 0.45 to hit $50.39 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 0.47% or 0.24 to trade at $51.76 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.17% to 1.0979, while USD/JPY fell 0.06% to 103.84.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.03% at 97.89.