U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.05%

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

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.05%, while the S&P 500 index added 1.75%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 2.59%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which rose 3.58% or 3.01 points to trade at 87.18 at the close. Meanwhile, Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) added 3.18% or 4.08 points to end at 132.55 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 2.83% or 3.57 points to 129.61 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which fell 0.29% or 0.11 points to trade at 37.47 at the close. Merck&Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) declined 0.23% or 0.26 points to end at 110.82 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was up 0.28% or 0.53 points to 188.91.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB) which rose 8.40% to 234.63, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) which was up 8.08% to settle at 121.82 and Warner Bros Discovery Inc (NASDAQ:WBD) which gained 6.31% to close at 9.43.

The worst performers were Cardinal Health Inc (NYSE:CAH) which was down 1.11% to 77.72 in late trade, CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE:CF) which lost 1.04% to settle at 85.44 and AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) which was down 0.77% to 166.07 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Hoth Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:HOTH) which rose 143.64% to 10.72, Kala Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:KALA) which was up 99.04% to settle at 24.84 and Palisade Bio Inc (NASDAQ:PALI) which gained 77.90% to close at 3.22.

The worst performers were FStar Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:FSTX) which was down 40.38% to 4.09 in late trade, Jasper Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:JSPR) which lost 21.97% to settle at 0.46 and Th International Ltd (NASDAQ:THCH) which was down 20.00% to 2.60 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2654 to 449 and 71 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 3078 rose and 659 declined, while 125 ended unchanged.

Shares in Jasper Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:JSPR) fell to all time lows; losing 21.97% or 0.13 to 0.46. Shares in Th International Ltd (NASDAQ:THCH) fell to all time lows; falling 20.00% or 0.65 to 2.60.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.16% to 21.44.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.35% or 6.30 to $1,822.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.38% or 0.30 to hit $78.66 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.31% or 0.26 to trade at $83.73 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.56% to 1.07, while USD/JPY fell 1.12% to 132.96.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.48% at 103.68.