U.S. shares lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.22%

Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Thursday, as losses in the Healthcare , Basic Materials and Telecoms sectors propelled shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.22%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.33%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.25%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS ), which rose 3.28% or 3.53 points to trade at 111.14 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE: BA ) added 0.66% or 1.92 points to end at 293.76 and Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO ) was up 0.40% or 0.18 points to 46.08 in late trade.

Biggest losers included UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH ), which lost 1.38% or 3.10 points to trade at 221.25 in late trade. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT ) declined 1.36% or 2.02 points to end at 146.56 and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ ) shed 1.03% or 0.55 points to 52.34.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Twenty-First Century Fox Inc A (NASDAQ: FOXA ) which rose 6.90% to 35.01, Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ: FOX ) which was up 5.81% to settle at 34.22 and Mattel Inc (NASDAQ: MAT ) which gained 4.97% to close at 16.36.

The worst performers were Acuity Brands Inc (NYSE: AYI ) which was down 3.68% to 161.28 in late trade, Perrigo Co (NYSE: PRGO ) which lost 3.26% to settle at 83.21 and Gap Inc (NYSE: GPS ) which was down 3.40% to 33.09 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were One Horizon Group Inc (NASDAQ: OHGI ) which rose 180.37% to 3.0000, Siebert Financial Corp (NASDAQ: SIEB ) which was up 62.48% to settle at 8.400 and Concordia International Corp (NASDAQ: CXRX ) which gained 56.58% to close at 0.84.

The worst performers were Criteo Sa (NASDAQ: CRTO ) which was down 25.83% to 23.45 in late trade, Ameri Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: AMRH ) which lost 22.53% to settle at 1.41 and CounterPath Corp (NASDAQ: CPAH ) which was down 17.98% to 2.871 at the close.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2070 to 1068 and 38 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1725 fell and 813 advanced, while 81 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.

The CBOE Volatility Index , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.59% to 10.24.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.70% or 8.80 to $1257.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.87% or 0.49 to hit $57.09 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 1.47% or 0.92 to trade at $63.36 a barrel.

EUR/USD was down 0.31% to 1.1789, while USD/JPY fell 0.30% to 112.20.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.12% at 93.51.