Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Technology, Consumer Services and Financials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.63%, while the S&P 500 index added 1.86%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 2.95%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which rose 5.84% or 5.98 points to trade at 108.30 at the close. Meanwhile, Visa Inc (NYSE:V) added 4.66% or 6.26 points to end at 140.52 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was up 4.46% or 1.89 points to 44.31 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which fell 1.72% or 0.99 points to trade at 56.43 at the close. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) declined 1.15% or 2.04 points to end at 175.31 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was down 0.82% or 0.58 points to 69.96.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Xilinx Inc (NASDAQ:XLNX) which rose 15.01% to 79.40, International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) which was up 10.25% to settle at 43.76 and Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) which gained 9.90% to close at 8.99.
The worst performers were Align Technology Inc (NASDAQ:ALGN) which was down 20.20% to 232.07 in late trade, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) which lost 15.45% to settle at 19.270 and Equifax Inc (NYSE:EFX) which was down 14.78% to 98.31 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were MoSys Inc (NASDAQ:MOSY) which rose 50.05% to 0.3810, Erytech Pharma SA ADR (NASDAQ:ERYP) which was up 22.47% to settle at 8.12 and Ameri Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AMRH) which gained 18.79% to close at 0.49.
The worst performers were National American University (NASDAQ:NAUH) which was down 30.00% to 0.770 in late trade, Borqs Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:BRQS) which lost 23.53% to settle at 3.25 and Novume Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:NVMM) which was down 20.26% to 1.85 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2203 to 878 and 77 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1873 rose and 760 declined, while 93 ended unchanged.
Shares in Equifax Inc (NYSE:EFX) fell to 52-week lows; losing 14.78% or 17.05 to 98.31. Shares in Borqs Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:BRQS) fell to all time lows; losing 23.53% or 1.00 to 3.25.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.00% to 24.22.
Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.50% or 6.20 to $1234.00 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 0.24% or 0.16 to hit $66.98 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 0.62% or 0.47 to trade at $76.64 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.19% to 1.1370, while USD/JPY rose 0.18% to 112.45.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.22% at 96.39.