Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Consumer Services, Basic Materials and Financials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.54%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 1.57%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 1.14%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which rose 5.68% or 9.26 points to trade at 172.29 at the close. Meanwhile, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) added 5.36% or 2.88 points to end at 56.47 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) was up 4.90% or 5.59 points to 119.68 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which fell 2.28% or 3.24 points to trade at 138.82 at the close. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) declined 1.47% or 2.75 points to end at 183.90 and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was down 1.29% or 1.58 points to 120.89.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were L Brands Inc (NYSE:LB) which rose 11.77% to 41.96, American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) which was up 9.42% to settle at 18.12 and ABIOMED Inc (NASDAQ:ABMD) which gained 9.80% to close at 360.81.
The worst performers were Lumen Technologies Inc (NYSE:LUMN) which was down 21.81% to 12.01 in late trade, Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC) which lost 14.21% to settle at 19.20 and ViacomCBS Inc (NASDAQ:VIAC) which was down 11.64% to 49.48 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Lianluo Smart Ltd (NASDAQ:LLIT) which rose 79.49% to 11.1999, The9 Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:NCTY) which was up 56.63% to settle at 16.070 and Big Rock Partners Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:BRPA) which gained 50.97% to close at 54.41.
The worst performers were Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (NASDAQ:BBBY) which was down 36.47% to 33.60 in late trade, Fossil Group Inc (NASDAQ:FOSL) which lost 36.52% to settle at 15.02 and Genius Brands International Inc (NASDAQ:GNUS) which was down 33.99% to 2.0200 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2173 to 927 and 73 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1756 rose and 1326 declined, while 66 ended unchanged.
Shares in ABIOMED Inc (NASDAQ:ABMD) rose to 52-week highs; up 9.80% or 32.21 to 360.81. Shares in Big Rock Partners Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:BRPA) rose to all time highs; up 50.97% or 18.37 to 54.41.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 24.05% to 28.26.
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.24% or 4.45 to $1844.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 0.91% or 0.48 to hit $52.37 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 0.72% or 0.40 to trade at $55.13 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.20% to 1.2132, while USD/JPY rose 0.14% to 104.23.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.23% at 90.427.