U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.20%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Oil&Gas, Basic Materials and Telecoms sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.20%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.89%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.39%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Honeywell International Inc (NASDAQ:HON), which rose 2.84% or 5.24 points to trade at 189.88 at the close. Meanwhile, Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) added 2.47% or 5.30 points to end at 220.31 and Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) was up 2.48% or 1.24 points to 51.26 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which fell 2.58% or 7.20 points to trade at 272.23 at the close. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) declined 2.18% or 0.65 points to end at 29.16 and Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) was up 0.22% or 0.40 points to 185.25.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were NRG Energy Inc (NYSE:NRG) which rose 6.80% to 33.62, Fleetcor Technologies Inc (NYSE:FLT) which was up 6.37% to settle at 199.12 and Assurant Inc (NYSE:AIZ) which gained 5.98% to close at 111.19.

The worst performers were First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC) which was down 47.29% to 12.14 in late trade, Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) which lost 2.89% to settle at 9.42 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) which was down 2.58% to 272.23 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Loyalty Ventures Inc (NASDAQ:LYLT) which rose 153.78% to 0.22, Lifecore Biomedical Inc (NASDAQ:LFCR) which was up 85.63% to settle at 3.10 and GeneDx Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:WGS) which gained 41.30% to close at 0.51.

The worst performers were Aziyo Biologics Inc (NASDAQ:AZYO) which was down 62.82% to 1.45 in late trade, Pear Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PEAR) which lost 46.27% to settle at 0.21 and Acrivon Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ACRV) which was down 41.95% to 11.61 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1902 to 1112 and 98 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1848 fell and 1783 advanced, while 136 ended unchanged.

Shares in First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC) fell to all time lows; falling 47.29% or 10.89 to 12.14. Shares in Aziyo Biologics Inc (NASDAQ:AZYO) fell to all time lows; falling 62.82% or 2.45 to 1.45. Shares in Pear Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PEAR) fell to all time lows; down 46.27% or 0.18 to 0.21.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 5.33% to 24.15.

Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.47% or 9.30 to $1,982.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 1.31% or 0.88 to hit $67.81 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.15% or 0.11 to trade at $73.84 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.02% to 1.07, while USD/JPY fell 0.01% to 131.29.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.44% at 102.90.