U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.34%

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 added 0.34%, while the index added 0.94%, and the index gained 1.51%.

The best performers of the session on the were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:), which rose 2.81% or 0.81 points to trade at 29.68 at the close. Meanwhile, Salesforce Inc (NYSE:) added 1.91% or 3.99 points to end at 213.37 and Nike Inc (NYSE:) was up 1.62% or 1.89 points to 118.87 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:), which fell 1.66% or 2.57 points to trade at 152.51 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:) declined 1.16% or 5.61 points to end at 479.20 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:) was down 0.66% or 0.76 points to 114.00.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 11.69% to 139.63, Bath & Body Works Inc. (NYSE:) which was up 10.79% to settle at 37.69 and Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 9.22% to close at 371.29.

The worst performers were Lumen Technologies Inc (NYSE:) which was down 4.92% to 2.51 in late trade, Target Corporation (NYSE:) which lost 4.24% to settle at 154.13 and Newmont Goldcorp Corp (NYSE:) which was down 3.31% to 43.27 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Enveric Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 136.96% to 3.59, AVROBIO Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 45.33% to settle at 0.84 and WANG & LEE GROUP Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 44.70% to close at 1.91.

The worst performers were Aptinyx Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 39.00% to 0.06 in late trade, NanoString Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:) which lost 29.02% to settle at 6.04 and Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 28.57% to 1.30 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1690 to 1238 and 94 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1936 rose and 1626 declined, while 136 ended unchanged.

Shares in Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (NASDAQ:) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 11.69% or 14.61 to 139.63. Shares in Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 9.22% or 31.33 to 371.29. Shares in Salesforce Inc (NYSE:) rose to 52-week highs; up 1.91% or 3.99 to 213.37. Shares in Aptinyx Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; losing 39.00% or 0.04 to 0.06.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.86% to 16.05.

Gold Futures for June delivery was down 1.26% or 25.05 to $1,959.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June fell 1.17% or 0.85 to hit $71.98 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 1.22% or 0.94 to trade at $76.02 a barrel.

EUR/USD was down 0.62% to 1.08, while USD/JPY rose 0.72% to 138.68.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.64% at 103.39.