U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.14% By Investing.com

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 0.14%, while the index climbed 0.85%, and the index climbed 1.58%.

The best performers of the session on the were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:), which rose 1.62% or 5.46 points to trade at 342.66 at the close. Meanwhile, Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:) added 1.56% or 0.79 points to end at 51.53 and Salesforce Inc (NYSE:) was up 1.36% or 3.08 points to 230.36 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:), which fell 1.91% or 0.58 points to trade at 29.74 at the close. The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:) declined 1.70% or 2.91 points to end at 168.21 and Chevron Corp (NYSE:) was down 1.34% or 2.14 points to 157.50.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were EPAM Systems Inc (NYSE:) which rose 4.82% to 244.65, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:) which was up 4.74% to settle at 459.83 and Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:) which gained 4.72% to close at 124.54.

The worst performers were Progressive Corp (NYSE:) which was down 13.11% to 114.79 in late trade, Southwest Airlines Company (NYSE:) which lost 3.89% to settle at 37.05 and Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:) which was down 3.46% to 56.70 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were EdtechX Holdings Acquisition Corp II (NASDAQ:) which rose 202.94% to 43.23, Genesis Growth Tech Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:) which was up 78.40% to settle at 21.23 and Nikola Corp (NASDAQ:) which gained 60.87% to close at 2.22.

The worst performers were First Wave BioPharma Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 32.46% to 0.90 in late trade, Healthcare Triangle Inc (NASDAQ:) which lost 30.65% to settle at 4.30 and SunCar Technology Group Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 30.09% to 8.18 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2052 to 900 and 85 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2251 rose and 1296 declined, while 132 ended unchanged.

Shares in NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:) rose to all time highs; gaining 4.74% or 20.82 to 459.83. Shares in Salesforce Inc (NYSE:) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 1.36% or 3.08 to 230.36. Shares in EdtechX Holdings Acquisition Corp II (NASDAQ:) rose to all time highs; up 202.94% or 28.96 to 43.23. Shares in First Wave BioPharma Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; losing 32.46% or 0.44 to 0.90. Shares in Genesis Growth Tech Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:) rose to all time highs; rising 78.40% or 9.33 to 21.23.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.52% to 13.61.

Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.15% or 2.95 to $1,964.65 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 2.01% or 1.52 to hit $77.27 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 1.95% or 1.56 to trade at $81.67 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.89% to 1.12, while USD/JPY fell 0.32% to 138.05.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.76% at 99.43.