U.S. shares higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.49%

Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Telecoms , Technology and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.49% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.56%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 1.01%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT ), which rose 2.46% or 3.46 points to trade at 144.19 at the close. 3M Company (NYSE: MMM ) added 1.79% or 2.97 points to end at 169.06 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS ) was up 1.64% or 3.52 points to 217.75 in late trade.

Biggest losers included McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD ), which lost 1.45% or 2.83 points to trade at 191.78 in late trade. Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE: XOM ) declined 0.88% or 0.61 points to end at 68.64 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE: TRV ) shed 0.87% or 1.13 points to 129.30.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Tiffany & Co (NYSE: TIF ) which rose 31.63% to 129.72, Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR ) which was up 6.18% to settle at 17.70 and Affiliated Managers Group Inc (NYSE: AMG ) which gained 5.30% to close at 81.50.

The worst performers were Prologis Inc (NYSE: PLD ) which was down 5.47% to 85.89 in late trade, Molson Coors Brewing Co Class B (NYSE: TAP ) which lost 3.99% to settle at 54.57 and Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG ) which was down 3.72% to 18.11 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were IVERIC bio Inc (NASDAQ: ISEE ) which rose 82.80% to 1.70, Clovis Oncology Inc (NASDAQ: CLVS ) which was up 31.67% to settle at 3.95 and Avinger Inc (NASDAQ: AVGR ) which gained 30.09% to close at 1.47.

The worst performers were Agile Thrpe (NASDAQ: AGRX ) which was down 59.32% to 0.45 in late trade, Guardion Health Sciences Inc (NASDAQ: GHSI ) which lost 34.80% to settle at 0.2827 and On Track Innovations Ltd (NASDAQ: OTIV ) which was down 26.63% to 0.2097 at the close.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1549 to 1288 and 105 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1705 rose and 938 declined, while 76 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.

The CBOE Volatility Index , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 3.64% to 13.11.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.69% or 10.45 to $1494.85 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 1.61% or 0.91 to hit $55.75 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 0.02% or 0.01 to trade at $61.24 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.02% to 1.1100, while USD/JPY rose 0.01% to 108.95.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.09% at 97.507.