U.S. stocks mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.03%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Healthcare, Financials and Telecoms sectors led shares higher while losses in the Oil&Gas, Consumer Services and Technology sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.03%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.34%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.56%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Merck&Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which rose 2.02% or 2.32 points to trade at 117.09 at the close. Meanwhile, Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN) added 0.82% or 2.48 points to end at 303.17 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) was up 0.75% or 1.38 points to 187.10 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which fell 5.12% or 1.31 points to trade at 24.26 at the close. Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) declined 1.62% or 1.69 points to end at 102.35 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) was down 1.27% or 2.34 points to 181.91.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) which rose 3.12% to 16.86, EPAM Systems Inc (NYSE:EPAM) which was up 2.69% to settle at 290.26 and Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) which gained 2.65% to close at 134.76.

The worst performers were APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) which was down 7.35% to 34.05 in late trade, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) which lost 5.12% to settle at 24.26 and ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON) which was down 3.92% to 76.20 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Minim Inc (NASDAQ:MINM) which rose 111.70% to 3.62, Omega Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:OMGA) which was up 94.69% to settle at 5.32 and Avenue Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ATXI) which gained 94.49% to close at 0.34.

The worst performers were E-Home Household Service Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:EJH) which was down 47.45% to 0.78 in late trade, Opko Health Inc (NASDAQ:OPK) which lost 39.55% to settle at 0.91 and Jin Medical International Ltd (NASDAQ:ZJYL) which was down 36.87% to 126.89 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1470 to 1398 and 76 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1748 fell and 1673 advanced, while 121 ended unchanged.

Shares in Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN) rose to all time highs; rising 0.82% or 2.48 to 303.17. Shares in E-Home Household Service Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:EJH) fell to all time lows; losing 47.45% or 0.70 to 0.78. Shares in Opko Health Inc (NASDAQ:OPK) fell to 5-year lows; losing 39.55% or 0.59 to 0.91.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.64% to 14.13 a new 1-month high.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.39% or 7.95 to $2,050.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.43% or 0.31 to hit $72.39 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract fell 0.75% or 0.59 to trade at $77.66 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.25% to 1.09, while USD/JPY rose 0.95% to 144.65.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.05% at 102.14.