U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.57%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the , and sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the gained 0.57%, while the index climbed 0.64%, and the index gained 0.60%.

The best performers of the session on the were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:), which rose 2.72% or 3.25 points to trade at 122.69 at the close. Meanwhile, Dow Inc (NYSE:) added 2.07% or 0.91 points to end at 44.92 and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:) was up 1.64% or 0.85 points to 52.93 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:), which fell 1.47% or 0.69 points to trade at 46.15 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE:) declined 1.06% or 3.96 points to end at 371.00 and McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:) was down 0.50% or 1.07 points to 211.76.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 5.18% to 84.89, Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 4.84% to settle at 280.48 and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:) which gained 4.80% to close at 8.96.

The worst performers were Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:) which was down 3.47% to 16.13 in late trade, NetApp Inc (NASDAQ:) which lost 3.10% to settle at 49.78 and Kroger Company (NYSE:) which was down 2.81% to 23.84 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Ra Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 101.10% to 45.64, Superconductor Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 45.16% to settle at 0.3150 and OncoSec Medical Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 34.76% to close at 2.210.

The worst performers were Forescout Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 37.33% to 24.57 in late trade, Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives Inc (NASDAQ:) which lost 32.48% to settle at 2.91 and Genprex Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 22.86% to 0.4821 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1724 to 1130 and 95 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1404 rose and 1203 declined, while 98 ended unchanged.

Shares in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:) fell to 52-week lows; falling 3.47% or 0.58 to 16.13. Shares in Ra Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:) rose to all time highs; rising 101.10% or 22.95 to 45.64. Shares in Genprex Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; down 22.86% or 0.1429 to 0.4821.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 5.58% to 17.60.

Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.93% or 14.10 to $1498.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 2.41% or 1.27 to hit $53.86 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 0.05% or 0.03 to trade at $59.55 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.02% to 1.1006, while USD/JPY fell 0.05% to 107.91.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.40% at 98.420.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.