Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Healthcare, Consumer Services and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.09%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.28%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.40%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 2.78% or 6.59 points to trade at 243.75 at the close. Meanwhile, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) added 2.38% or 1.30 points to end at 55.95 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) was up 1.47% or 1.92 points to 132.10 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), which fell 5.48% or 7.79 points to trade at 134.25 at the close. The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) declined 1.44% or 2.05 points to end at 140.54 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was down 1.08% or 0.56 points to 51.88.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Dover Corporation (NYSE:DOV) which rose 5.87% to 101.40, United Rentals Inc (NYSE:URI) which was up 5.21% to settle at 127.92 and Cardinal Health Inc (NYSE:CAH) which gained 4.44% to close at 51.25.
The worst performers were Textron Inc (NYSE:TXT) which was down 5.53% to 47.79 in late trade, International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) which lost 5.48% to settle at 134.25 and M&T Bank Corp (NYSE:MTB) which was down 4.42% to 152.10 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Professional Diversity Network Inc (NASDAQ:IPDN) which rose 56.19% to 1.6400, ContraVir Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:HEPA) which was up 45.90% to settle at 3.5600 and Piedmont Lithium Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:PLL) which gained 38.62% to close at 9.01.
The worst performers were Provident Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:PVBC) which was down 51.06% to 10.82 in late trade, Bionano Genomics Inc (NASDAQ:BNGO) which lost 50.18% to settle at 1.37 and Waitr Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:WTRH) which was down 44.43% to 0.62 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1828 to 940 and 124 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1638 rose and 798 declined, while 82 ended unchanged.
Shares in Provident Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:PVBC) fell to all time lows; losing 51.06% or 11.29 to 10.82. Shares in Waitr Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:WTRH) fell to all time lows; down 44.43% or 0.49 to 0.62.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.80% to 13.79.
Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.10% or 1.45 to $1495.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 1.35% or 0.72 to hit $54.08 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 0.05% or 0.03 to trade at $59.94 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.03% to 1.1125, while USD/JPY rose 0.01% to 108.66.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.41% at 97.322.