U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 2.25%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Technology, Basic Materials and Industrials sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2.25% to hit a new 1-month low, while the S&P 500 index declined 2.49%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 3.23%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which rose 0.83% or 0.31 points to trade at 37.76 at the close. Meanwhile, Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) fell 0.75% or 1.29 points to end at 171.04 and Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) was down 0.86% or 1.26 points to 145.41 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), which fell 5.00% or 7.50 points to trade at 142.36 at the close. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) declined 4.69% or 6.71 points to end at 136.50 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was down 3.93% or 1.11 points to 27.15.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) which rose 3.85% to 94.32, DR Horton Inc (NYSE:DHI) which was up 3.57% to settle at 90.52 and Align Technology Inc (NASDAQ:ALGN) which gained 3.15% to close at 201.97.

The worst performers were Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) which was down 10.10% to 32.21 in late trade, Nucor Corp (NYSE:NUE) which lost 9.55% to settle at 133.80 and Warner Bros Discovery Inc (NASDAQ:WBD) which was down 8.93% to 10.00 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Core Scientific Inc (NASDAQ:CORZ) which rose 72.00% to 0.43, Imv Inc (NASDAQ:IMV) which was up 69.30% to settle at 3.64 and Scopus Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:SCPS) which gained 44.85% to close at 0.34.

The worst performers were Third Harmonic Bio Inc (NASDAQ:THRD) which was down 78.28% to 4.30 in late trade, Axcella Health Inc (NASDAQ:AXLA) which lost 50.78% to settle at 0.44 and Novavax Inc (NASDAQ:NVAX) which was down 34.30% to 11.32 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2472 to 595 and 110 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2785 fell and 954 advanced, while 159 ended unchanged.

Shares in Third Harmonic Bio Inc (NASDAQ:THRD) fell to all time lows; losing 78.28% or 15.50 to 4.30. Shares in Axcella Health Inc (NASDAQ:AXLA) fell to all time lows; losing 50.78% or 0.45 to 0.44. Shares in Novavax Inc (NASDAQ:NVAX) fell to 52-week lows; falling 34.30% or 5.91 to 11.32.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 7.99% to 22.83.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 1.75% or 31.85 to $1,786.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 1.37% or 1.06 to hit $76.22 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 1.58% or 1.31 to trade at $81.39 a barrel.

EUR/USD was down 0.55% to 1.06, while USD/JPY rose 1.75% to 137.84.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.80% at 104.24.