U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.61%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Oil&Gas, Technology and Consumer Goods sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.61%, while the S&P 500 index gained 1.10%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 1.76%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM), which rose 5.68% or 8.87 points to trade at 165.04 at the close. Meanwhile, Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) added 4.86% or 8.71 points to end at 187.79 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was up 3.07% or 7.39 points to 248.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), which fell 4.50% or 6.33 points to trade at 134.43 at the close. Merck&Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) declined 1.58% or 1.72 points to end at 106.87 and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) was down 1.09% or 3.45 points to 313.81.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) which rose 10.97% to 160.27, Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX) which was up 10.86% to settle at 69.01 and United Rentals Inc (NYSE:URI) which gained 10.02% to close at 431.79.

The worst performers were Sherwin-Williams Co (NYSE:SHW) which was down 8.92% to 225.06 in late trade, McCormick&Company Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) which lost 5.80% to settle at 73.46 and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) which was down 4.50% to 134.43 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were BuzzFeed Inc (NASDAQ:BZFD) which rose 119.88% to 2.09, MicroAlgo Inc (NASDAQ:MLGO) which was up 64.20% to settle at 2.74 and COMSovereign Holding Corp (NASDAQ:COMS) which gained 58.84% to close at 0.12.

The worst performers were Panbela Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PBLA) which was down 40.59% to 1.61 in late trade, Village Farms International Inc (NASDAQ:VFF) which lost 37.34% to settle at 0.95 and Allied Healthcare Products Inc (NASDAQ:AHPI) which was down 36.28% to 0.72 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2051 to 976 and 115 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2150 rose and 1535 declined, while 159 ended unchanged.

Shares in United Rentals Inc (NYSE:URI) rose to all time highs; rising 10.02% or 39.31 to 431.79. Shares in Panbela Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PBLA) fell to all time lows; falling 40.59% or 1.10 to 1.61. Shares in Village Farms International Inc (NASDAQ:VFF) fell to 5-year lows; falling 37.34% or 0.56 to 0.95. Shares in Allied Healthcare Products Inc (NASDAQ:AHPI) fell to 5-year lows; falling 36.28% or 0.41 to 0.72.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.83% to 18.73.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.65% or 12.55 to $1,930.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 1.29% or 1.03 to hit $81.18 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 1.76% or 1.52 to trade at $87.64 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.20% to 1.09, while USD/JPY rose 0.49% to 130.23.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.18% at 101.60.