U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.17%

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 1.17%, while the index climbed 1.76%, and the index climbed 2.48%.

The best performers of the session on the were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:), which rose 6.23% or 1.77 points to trade at 30.18 at the close. Meanwhile, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:) added 4.05% or 10.76 points to end at 276.20 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:) was up 3.44% or 5.72 points to 172.21 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:), which fell 1.27% or 0.47 points to trade at 36.59 at the close. Walmart Inc (NYSE:) declined 0.57% or 0.79 points to end at 138.28 and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:) was down 0.44% or 1.28 points to 286.69.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were First Republic Bank (NYSE:) which rose 10.33% to 34.38, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 7.72% to settle at 96.60 and Under Armour Inc C (NYSE:) which gained 6.28% to close at 7.62.

The worst performers were SolarEdge Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 6.81% to 285.57 in late trade, Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:) which lost 4.79% to settle at 15.30 and Lumen Technologies Inc (NYSE:) which was down 3.86% to 2.49 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holding (NASDAQ:) which rose 97.59% to 5.75, OncoCyte Corp (NASDAQ:) which was up 51.50% to settle at 0.30 and Baudax Bio Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 44.36% to close at 1.92.

The worst performers were LivePerson Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 57.73% to 4.13 in late trade, Esperion Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:) which lost 54.27% to settle at 1.82 and Proterra Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 53.59% to 1.17 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2198 to 804 and 94 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2409 rose and 1170 declined, while 148 ended unchanged.

Shares in Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:) fell to 5-year lows; down 4.79% or 0.77 to 15.30. Shares in Lumen Technologies Inc (NYSE:) fell to 5-year lows; down 3.86% or 0.10 to 2.49. Shares in LivePerson Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to 5-year lows; down 57.73% or 5.64 to 4.13. Shares in Esperion Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; down 54.27% or 2.16 to 1.82. Shares in Proterra Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; falling 53.59% or 1.35 to 1.17.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 12.05% to 22.99.

Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.39% or 7.60 to $1,923.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 0.93% or 0.63 to hit $68.24 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.07% or 0.05 to trade at $74.70 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.06% to 1.06, while USD/JPY fell 0.00% to 133.71.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.15% at 104.12.