U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.26%

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 rose 1.26% to hit a new 6-months high, while the index added 1.22%, and the index climbed 1.15%.

The best performers of the session on the were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:), which rose 3.19% or 10.76 points to trade at 348.10 at the close. Meanwhile, Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:) added 2.77% or 6.16 points to end at 228.44 and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:) was up 2.00% or 0.71 points to 36.45 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Nike Inc (NYSE:), which fell 0.39% or 0.44 points to trade at 112.42 at the close. American Express Company (NYSE:) declined 0.37% or 0.64 points to end at 173.83 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:) was up 0.43% or 1.46 points to 339.88.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Domino’s Pizza Inc (NYSE:) which rose 6.47% to 325.49, Lennar Corporation (NYSE:) which was up 4.39% to settle at 119.79 and CVS Health Corp (NYSE:) which gained 4.28% to close at 69.50.

The worst performers were Warner Bros Discovery Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 3.95% to 13.13 in late trade, Monolithic Power Systems Inc (NASDAQ:) which lost 3.34% to settle at 519.28 and Arista Networks (NYSE:) which was down 3.31% to 163.49 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were EdtechX Holdings Acquisition Corp II (NASDAQ:) which rose 202.13% to 33.99, Scworx Corp (NASDAQ:) which was up 70.70% to settle at 0.38 and Jeffs Brands Ltd Unit (NASDAQ:) which gained 40.45% to close at 1.09.

The worst performers were Top KingWin Ltd (NASDAQ:) which was down 75.27% to 2.30 in late trade, Mersana Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:) which lost 59.27% to settle at 3.89 and Bone Biologics Corp (NASDAQ:) which was down 58.27% to 1.64 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2246 to 721 and 85 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2266 rose and 1281 declined, while 144 ended unchanged.

Shares in Lennar Corporation (NYSE:) rose to all time highs; rising 4.39% or 5.04 to 119.79. Shares in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:) rose to all time highs; up 3.19% or 10.76 to 348.10. Shares in EdtechX Holdings Acquisition Corp II (NASDAQ:) rose to all time highs; up 202.13% or 22.74 to 33.99. Shares in Top KingWin Ltd (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; down 75.27% or 7.00 to 2.30. Shares in Bone Biologics Corp (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; down 58.27% or 2.29 to 1.64.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 4.47% to 14.50.

Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.07% or 1.45 to $1,970.35 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 3.38% or 2.31 to hit $70.58 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 3.36% or 2.46 to trade at $75.66 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 1.06% to 1.09, while USD/JPY rose 0.14% to 140.28.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.77% at 101.74.