Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Technology , Consumer Services and Industrials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.21%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.63%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 1.52%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT ), which rose 7.63% or 30.14 points to trade at 425.40 at the close. Meanwhile, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN ) added 3.13% or 5.78 points to end at 190.20 and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA ) was up 2.41% or 2.63 points to 111.55 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Unitedhealth Group (NYSE: UNH ), which fell 2.70% or 11.09 points to trade at 400.35 at the close. Amgen Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN ) declined 2.49% or 7.23 points to end at 283.69 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE: MRK ) was down 2.28% or 1.94 points to 83.26.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Carrier Global Corp (NYSE: CARR ) which rose 11.61% to 69.80, Quanta Services Inc (NYSE: PWR ) which was up 9.99% to settle at 321.93 and IDEXX Laboratories Inc (NASDAQ: IDXX ) which gained 8.93% to close at 471.28.

The worst performers were Becton Dickinson and Company (NYSE: BDX ) which was down 18.12% to 169.57 in late trade, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY ) which lost 11.66% to settle at 794.10 and Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM ) which was down 8.93% to 135.21 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Classover Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: KIDZ ) which rose 366.09% to 5.36, Zoomcar Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: ZCAR ) which was up 153.07% to settle at 10.30 and Healthcare Triangle Inc (NASDAQ: HCTI ) which gained 71.97% to close at 0.27.

The worst performers were CDT Environmental Technology Investment Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ: CDTG ) which was down 71.67% to 0.68 in late trade, Highest Performances Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: HPH ) which lost 48.91% to settle at 5.85 and Urgent.ly Inc (NASDAQ: ULY ) which was down 39.87% to 8.96 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1516 to 1241 and 87 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1809 rose and 1490 declined, while 131 ended unchanged.

Shares in Becton Dickinson and Company (NYSE: BDX ) fell to 5-year lows; down 18.12% or 37.53 to 169.57. Shares in Unitedhealth Group (NYSE: UNH ) fell to 3-years lows; down 2.70% or 11.09 to 400.35. Shares in CDT Environmental Technology Investment Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ: CDTG ) fell to all time lows; losing 71.67% or 1.72 to 0.68.

The CBOE Volatility Index , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.40% to 24.60.

Gold Futures for June delivery was down 2.33% or 77.43 to $3,241.67 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 1.49% or 0.87 to hit $59.08 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 1.42% or 0.87 to trade at $61.93 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.37% to 1.13, while USD/JPY rose 1.77% to 145.47.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.74% at 100.00.