U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.02% 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 lost 1.02%, while the index declined 1.16%, and the index declined 1.47%.

The best performers of the session on the were Chevron Corp (NYSE:), which rose 1.79% or 3.08 points to trade at 175.22 at the close. Meanwhile, Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:) added 1.37% or 0.57 points to end at 41.70 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:) was up 1.37% or 1.53 points to 113.61 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:), which fell 6.14% or 2.30 points to trade at 35.19 at the close. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:) declined 2.96% or 6.79 points to end at 222.31 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:) was down 2.88% or 14.55 points to 489.95.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Lamb Weston Holdings Inc (NYSE:) which rose 9.66% to 95.93, Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:) which was up 6.60% to settle at 35.23 and Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:) which gained 5.79% to close at 126.55.

The worst performers were Constellation Brands Inc Class A (NYSE:) which was down 9.66% to 208.84 in late trade, ServiceNow Inc (NYSE:) which lost 6.98% to settle at 366.36 and Sherwin-Williams Co (NYSE:) which was down 6.74% to 227.73 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Bellerophon Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 150.33% to 2.29, Magic Empire Global Ltd (NASDAQ:) which was up 75.57% to settle at 2.30 and ABVC Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 72.58% to close at 1.07.

The worst performers were Lucira Health Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 32.13% to 0.29 in late trade, TC BioPharm Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:) which lost 30.06% to settle at 3.42 and Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 29.88% to 1.69 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1878 to 1196 and 99 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2198 fell and 1546 advanced, while 159 ended unchanged.

Shares in Lamb Weston Holdings Inc (NYSE:) rose to all time highs; up 9.66% or 8.45 to 95.93. Shares in Constellation Brands Inc Class A (NYSE:) fell to 52-week lows; losing 9.66% or 22.32 to 208.84. Shares in Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:) rose to all time highs; rising 1.37% or 1.53 to 113.61. Shares in Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to 5-year lows; down 29.88% or 0.72 to 1.69.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 2.04% to 22.46.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 1.09% or 20.30 to $1,838.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 1.32% or 0.96 to hit $73.80 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 1.17% or 0.91 to trade at $78.75 a barrel.

EUR/USD was down 0.75% to 1.05, while USD/JPY rose 0.57% to 133.38.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.86% at 104.92.