U.S. stocks mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.11%

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

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.11%, while the S&P 500 index gained 1.47%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 3.25%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which rose 4.69% or 11.85 points to trade at 264.60 at the close. Meanwhile, 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) added 3.82% or 4.43 points to end at 120.29 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was up 3.85% or 1.12 points to 30.19 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which fell 5.26% or 26.12 points to trade at 470.88 at the close. Merck&Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) declined 3.29% or 3.52 points to end at 103.46 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was down 2.52% or 5.41 points to 209.34.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Align Technology Inc (NASDAQ:ALGN) which rose 27.38% to 359.88, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) which was up 23.28% to settle at 188.77 and WW Grainger Inc (NYSE:GWW) which gained 12.97% to close at 675.59.

The worst performers were Air Products and Chemicals Inc (NYSE:APD) which was down 7.09% to 295.56 in late trade, Schlumberger NV (NYSE:SLB) which lost 6.12% to settle at 52.29 and Aflac Inc (NYSE:AFL) which was down 5.92% to 68.94 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Gaucho Group Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:VINO) which rose 342.62% to 5.40, Biophytis (NASDAQ:BPTS) which was up 73.13% to settle at 0.71 and Innovative Eyewear Inc (NASDAQ:LUCY) which gained 58.17% to close at 2.42.

The worst performers were Versus Systems Inc (NASDAQ:VS) which was down 41.60% to 0.97 in late trade, Motorsport Gaming Us LLC (NASDAQ:MSGM) which lost 37.95% to settle at 22.96 and VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ:VVPR) which was down 35.66% to 0.64 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2103 to 952 and 91 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2724 rose and 993 declined, while 141 ended unchanged.

Shares in WW Grainger Inc (NYSE:GWW) rose to all time highs; rising 12.97% or 77.54 to 675.59.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 4.81% to 18.73.

Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.85% or 16.55 to $1,926.25 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 0.76% or 0.58 to hit $75.83 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 0.93% or 0.77 to trade at $82.07 a barrel.

EUR/USD was down 0.68% to 1.09, while USD/JPY fell 0.21% to 128.66.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.50% at 101.53.