U.S. Stocks Increase at Market Close; Dow Jones Industrial Average Rises 0.40%

U.S. stocks experienced an uptick following Wednesday’s close, driven by gains across various sectors.

By the end of trading on the NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.40%, the S&P 500 increased by 0.75%, and the NASDAQ Composite saw a 0.69% climb.

Top performers of the session included Boeing Co, which surged 4.22% or 8.24 points to reach 203.63. Salesforce Inc also performed well, adding 3.58% or 4.82 points to close at 139.60, while Intel Corporation saw a 3.55% increase or 0.95 points, finishing at 27.68.

Conversely, Microsoft Corporation was among the worst performers, dropping 4.37% or 10.48 points to settle at 229.10. UnitedHealth Group Inc followed with a decline of 2.72% or 14.11 points to close at 504.53, and Honeywell International Inc fell by 1.99% or 4.26 points to finish at 210.04.

In the S&P 500, Bath & Body Works Inc led the pack with a 10.53% increase to 47.74. Carnival Corporation saw a rise of 9.66%, closing at 8.74, while Warner Bros Discovery Inc gained 8.81%, ending at 10.38.

The session’s laggards included Arista Networks, which fell 5.85% to close at 113.84, along with Microsoft Corporation and Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, which decreased by 4.37% and 3.65%, respectively.

On the NASDAQ Composite, Vivos Therapeutics Inc experienced a remarkable rise of 154.05%, reaching 1.88. Cryptyde Inc saw an 81.35% increase, closing at 0.35, while Vyne Therapeutics Inc gained 70.05%, ending at 0.24.

The worst-performing stocks on the NASDAQ included Vera Therapeutics Inc, which plummeted 64.70% to 6.46, followed by ReShape Lifesciences Inc and Enovix Corp, which fell 43.17% and 41.01%, respectively.

Overall, advancing stocks outperformed declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by a margin of 2465 to 625, with 76 remaining unchanged. On the Nasdaq, 2692 stocks rose while 1091 declined, and 127 were unchanged.

Vera Therapeutics Inc and Enovix Corp both sank to all-time lows during the session.

The volatility index, which tracks the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, declined by 3.89% to 22.01.

In commodities, February gold futures rose by 0.81% to $1,861.05 per troy ounce. However, February crude oil prices fell by 4.90% to $73.16 per barrel, and March Brent oil contracts dropped by 4.99% to $78.00 per barrel.

In the currency markets, the EUR/USD pair increased by 0.58% to 1.06, while the USD/JPY rose 1.29% to 132.68. The US Dollar Index futures decreased by 0.29% to 104.01.