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 Utilities, Technology and Basic Materials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.05%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.76%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.73%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM), which rose 11.50% or 19.24 points to trade at 186.59 at the close. Meanwhile, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) added 3.43% or 0.87 points to end at 26.20 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was up 2.69% or 5.51 points to 210.06 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were JPMorgan Chase&Co (NYSE:JPM), which fell 1.04% or 1.48 points to trade at 141.07 at the close. Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN) declined 0.61% or 1.45 points to end at 234.74 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) was down 0.47% or 0.86 points to 183.19.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) which rose 11.50% to 186.59, DexCom Inc (NASDAQ:DXCM) which was up 9.46% to settle at 121.24 and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (NASDAQ:TTWO) which gained 6.05% to close at 115.28.

The worst performers were Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) which was down 5.85% to 190.90 in late trade, Principal Financial Group Inc (NASDAQ:PFG) which lost 5.54% to settle at 86.18 and Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) which was down 4.56% to 41.83 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Diversified Healthcare Trust (NASDAQ:DHC) which rose 59.14% to 1.48, Exela Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:XELA) which was up 40.00% to settle at 0.07 and Biophytis (NASDAQ:BPTS) which gained 41.09% to close at 0.59.

The worst performers were ZimVie Inc (NASDAQ:ZIMV) which was down 44.55% to 5.80 in late trade, Caredx Inc (NASDAQ:CDNA) which lost 32.72% to settle at 10.77 and Lucira Health Inc (NASDAQ:LHDX) which was down 29.12% to 0.56 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1676 to 1350 and 110 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1927 rose and 1728 declined, while 154 ended unchanged.

Shares in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) fell to 52-week lows; down 4.56% or 2.00 to 41.83. Shares in ZimVie Inc (NASDAQ:ZIMV) fell to all time lows; losing 44.55% or 4.66 to 5.80. Shares in Caredx Inc (NASDAQ:CDNA) fell to 3-years lows; down 32.72% or 5.24 to 10.77.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.81% to 19.59.

Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.19% or 3.55 to $1,841.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 0.30% or 0.23 to hit $77.92 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.20% or 0.17 to trade at $84.48 a barrel.

EUR/USD was down 0.62% to 1.06, while USD/JPY rose 0.42% to 136.73.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.49% at 104.94.