U.S. stocks mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.47%

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

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.47% to hit a new 52-week high, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.68%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 2.05%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Johnson&Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which rose 6.09% or 9.66 points to trade at 168.40 at the close. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) added 3.05% or 10.38 points to end at 350.93 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was up 2.37% or 4.95 points to 213.55 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which fell 3.16% or 1.09 points to trade at 33.37 at the close. Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) declined 2.67% or 6.26 points to end at 228.11 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was down 2.31% or 8.21 points to 346.87.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) which rose 9.98% to 37.90, Johnson&Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) which was up 6.09% to settle at 168.40 and Allstate Corp (NYSE:ALL) which gained 5.80% to close at 111.93.

The worst performers were Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) which was down 15.92% to 102.45 in late trade, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) which lost 9.74% to settle at 262.90 and Equifax Inc (NYSE:EFX) which was down 8.94% to 216.25 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Guardforce AI Co Ltd (NASDAQ:GFAI) which rose 57.46% to 6.44, Evelo Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:EVLO) which was up 52.40% to settle at 9.86 and Sirius XM Holding Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI) which gained 42.26% to close at 7.81.

The worst performers were Vir Biotechnology Inc (NASDAQ:VIR) which was down 44.90% to 12.70 in late trade, Netcapital Inc (NASDAQ:NCPL) which lost 41.88% to settle at 0.68 and Durect Corporation (NASDAQ:DRRX) which was down 33.13% to 3.29 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1716 to 1232 and 79 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2251 fell and 1283 advanced, while 102 ended unchanged.

Shares in Vir Biotechnology Inc (NASDAQ:VIR) fell to 3-years lows; down 44.90% or 10.35 to 12.70. Shares in Netcapital Inc (NASDAQ:NCPL) fell to 5-year lows; losing 41.88% or 0.49 to 0.68. Shares in Sirius XM Holding Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI) rose to 5-year highs; gaining 42.26% or 2.32 to 7.81. Shares in Durect Corporation (NASDAQ:DRRX) fell to 5-year lows; down 33.13% or 1.63 to 3.29.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 1.67% to 13.99.

Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.46% or 9.05 to $1,971.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.61% or 0.46 to hit $75.75 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.29% or 0.23 to trade at $79.69 a barrel.

EUR/USD was down 0.61% to 1.11, while USD/JPY rose 0.29% to 140.07.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.56% at 100.54.