U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.35%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Consumer Goods, Telecoms and Financials sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.35%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.29%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.30%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which rose 2.44% or 10.12 points to trade at 425.22 at the close. Meanwhile, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) added 1.24% or 2.19 points to end at 178.75 and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) was up 1.18% or 1.82 points to 155.71 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were JPMorgan Chase&Co (NYSE:JPM), which fell 1.74% or 3.33 points to trade at 188.05 at the close. Honeywell International Inc (NASDAQ:HON) declined 1.69% or 3.38 points to end at 196.35 and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was down 1.62% or 3.18 points to 193.52.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were West Pharmaceutical Services Inc (NYSE:WST) which rose 3.55% to 399.43, Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) which was up 3.01% to settle at 37.63 and Alphabet Inc Class C (NASDAQ:GOOG) which gained 2.54% to close at 144.34.

The worst performers were Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) which was down 7.64% to 152.86 in late trade, Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH) which lost 6.57% to settle at 110.41 and VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) which was down 5.77% to 14.61 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Aptorum Group Ltd Class A (NASDAQ:APM) which rose 56.35% to 6.77, Psyence Biomedical Ltd (NASDAQ:PBM) which was up 52.88% to settle at 1.59 and Presto Automation Inc (NASDAQ:PRST) which gained 34.06% to close at 0.30.

The worst performers were Spruce Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:SPRB) which was down 84.38% to 0.81 in late trade, Better Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:BTTX) which lost 82.84% to settle at 0.04 and Immuneering Corp (NASDAQ:IMRX) which was down 50.68% to 2.90 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2241 to 648 and 53 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2575 fell and 838 advanced, while 90 ended unchanged.

Shares in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) rose to all time highs; gaining 2.44% or 10.12 to 425.22. Shares in Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) rose to 52-week highs; rising 1.24% or 2.19 to 178.75. Shares in Spruce Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:SPRB) fell to all time lows; falling 84.38% or 4.38 to 0.81. Shares in Better Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:BTTX) fell to all time lows; down 82.84% or 0.17 to 0.04. Shares in Immuneering Corp (NASDAQ:IMRX) fell to all time lows; losing 50.68% or 2.98 to 2.90.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 4.73% to 14.40.

Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.63% or 13.75 to $2,167.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 1.73% or 1.38 to hit $81.10 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 1.36% or 1.14 to trade at $85.17 a barrel.

EUR/USD was down 0.56% to 1.09, while USD/JPY rose 0.37% to 148.29.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.58% at 102.99.