U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.34%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Technology, Basic Materials and Consumer Services sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.34%, while the S&P 500 index added 1.03%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 1.51%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which rose 3.68% or 1.64 points to trade at 46.15 at the close. Meanwhile, American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) added 2.27% or 4.96 points to end at 223.41 and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) was up 1.91% or 3.31 points to 176.82 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN), which fell 1.35% or 3.73 points to trade at 272.86 at the close. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) declined 1.03% or 0.41 points to end at 39.52 and JPMorgan Chase&Co (NYSE:JPM) was down 0.88% or 1.66 points to 187.87.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Kroger Company (NYSE:KR) which rose 9.86% to 55.47, ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON) which was up 6.88% to settle at 82.96 and Microchip Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MCHP) which gained 6.30% to close at 93.34.

The worst performers were Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE) which was down 3.14% to 18.18 in late trade, Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) which lost 2.83% to settle at 42.08 and Brown Forman (NYSE:BFb) which was down 2.70% to 54.60 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Lytus Technologies Holdings Ptv Ltd (NASDAQ:LYT) which rose 276.62% to 8.70, Immuron Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:IMRN) which was up 161.49% to settle at 4.55 and Brera Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:BREA) which gained 91.18% to close at 1.95.

The worst performers were Nature Wood Group Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:NWGL) which was down 37.08% to 11.74 in late trade, Solowin Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:SWIN) which lost 35.64% to settle at 30.25 and Astra Space Inc (NASDAQ:ASTR) which was down 32.09% to 0.58 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1971 to 885 and 76 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1901 rose and 1499 declined, while 122 ended unchanged.

Shares in Kroger Company (NYSE:KR) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 9.86% or 4.98 to 55.47. Shares in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) rose to all time highs; rising 2.27% or 4.96 to 223.41. Shares in Immuron Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:IMRN) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 161.49% or 2.81 to 4.55. Shares in Astra Space Inc (NASDAQ:ASTR) fell to all time lows; falling 32.09% or 0.28 to 0.58.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.41% to 14.44.

Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.39% or 8.50 to $2,166.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 0.09% or 0.07 to hit $79.06 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 0.05% or 0.04 to trade at $82.92 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.45% to 1.09, while USD/JPY fell 0.91% to 148.01.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.52% at 102.79.