U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.02% By Investing.com

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the , and sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the declined 0.02%, while the index declined 0.31%, and the index fell 0.35%.

The best performers of the session on the were Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:), which rose 4.96% or 2.20 points to trade at 46.59 at the close. Meanwhile, Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:) added 2.38% or 2.38 points to end at 102.31 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:) was up 1.30% or 1.93 points to 150.72 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Salesforce Inc (NYSE:), which fell 3.50% or 5.43 points to trade at 149.69 at the close. Walt Disney Company (NYSE:) declined 2.66% or 2.50 points to end at 91.45 and American Express Company (NYSE:) was down 1.27% or 1.93 points to 150.64.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Bath & Body Works Inc. (NYSE:) which rose 25.18% to 38.97, Gap Inc (NYSE:) which was up 5.56% to settle at 12.71 and Qorvo Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 5.25% to close at 97.70.

The worst performers were West Pharmaceutical Services Inc (NYSE:) which was down 7.59% to 221.88 in late trade, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NYSE:) which lost 6.59% to settle at 16.43 and Paycom Soft (NYSE:) which was down 5.83% to 318.01 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 40.98% to 1.72, CytomX Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 32.23% to settle at 1.60 and Cuentas Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 28.00% to close at 0.32.

The worst performers were Inotiv Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 56.97% to 6.82 in late trade, Golden Sun Education Group Ltd (NASDAQ:) which lost 46.28% to settle at 2.31 and Singularity Future Technology Ltd (NASDAQ:) which was down 45.93% to 1.13 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1985 to 1113 and 111 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2276 fell and 1473 advanced, while 247 ended unchanged.

Shares in Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:) rose to all time highs; rising 2.38% or 2.38 to 102.31. Shares in Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 40.98% or 0.50 to 1.72. Shares in Inotiv Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to 52-week lows; falling 56.97% or 9.03 to 6.82. Shares in Golden Sun Education Group Ltd (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; falling 46.28% or 1.99 to 2.31. Shares in Singularity Future Technology Ltd (NASDAQ:) fell to 3-years lows; losing 45.93% or 0.96 to 1.13.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.75% to 23.93.

Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.70% or 12.50 to $1,763.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 4.25% or 3.64 to hit $81.95 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 3.09% or 2.87 to trade at $89.99 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.23% to 1.04, while USD/JPY rose 0.46% to 140.18.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.37% at 106.55.