U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.10%

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 0.10%, while the index added 0.15%, and the index gained 0.05%.

The best performers of the session on the were Nike Inc (NYSE:), which rose 2.21% or 2.07 points to trade at 95.79 at the close. Meanwhile, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:) added 1.47% or 3.84 points to end at 265.58 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:) was up 0.96% or 2.68 points to 282.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were 3M Company (NYSE:), which fell 1.66% or 2.77 points to trade at 164.37 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE:) declined 0.91% or 3.16 points to end at 345.68 and Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:) was down 0.84% or 0.37 points to 43.52.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were PVH Corp (NYSE:) which rose 3.47% to 100.73, Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 3.41% to settle at 299.39 and Ralph Lauren Corp Class A (NYSE:) which gained 3.10% to close at 112.06.

The worst performers were Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 6.96% to 107.42 in late trade, Brown Forman (NYSE:) which lost 6.29% to settle at 63.57 and F5 Networks Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 3.91% to 137.96 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 78.78% to 15.000, QuickLogic Corporation (NASDAQ:) which was up 36.08% to settle at 0.330 and Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 35.36% to close at 3.79.

The worst performers were Sage Therapeutic (NASDAQ:) which was down 59.67% to 60.18 in late trade, Akers Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:) which lost 43.06% to settle at 3.160 and Kirklands Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 31.43% to 0.91 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1570 to 1260 and 98 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1343 fell and 1292 advanced, while 88 ended unchanged.

Shares in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:) rose to 5-year highs; rising 78.78% or 6.610 to 15.000. Shares in Sage Therapeutic (NASDAQ:) fell to 52-week lows; falling 59.67% or 89.03 to 60.18. Shares in Akers Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to 3-years lows; down 43.06% or 2.389 to 3.160. Shares in Kirklands Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to 5-year lows; down 31.43% or 0.42 to 0.91.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.89% to 14.52.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.06% or 0.90 to $1481.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 0.17% or 0.10 to hit $58.33 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 0.02% or 0.01 to trade at $63.28 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.04% to 1.1106, while USD/JPY fell 0.01% to 108.73.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.24% at 97.365.

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