Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Healthcare , Telecoms and Basic Materials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.32% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.09%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.02%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Unitedhealth Group (NYSE: UNH ), which rose 8.21% or 23.98 points to trade at 315.89 at the close. Meanwhile, Merck & Company Inc (NYSE: MRK ) added 1.54% or 1.17 points to end at 77.23 and Amgen Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN ) was up 1.26% or 3.44 points to 275.85 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE ), which fell 1.63% or 1.03 points to trade at 62.08 at the close. Chevron Corp (NYSE: CVX ) declined 1.35% or 1.89 points to end at 138.50 and Salesforce Inc (NYSE: CRM ) was down 1.21% or 3.52 points to 287.63.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Unitedhealth Group (NYSE: UNH ) which rose 8.21% to 315.89, Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA ) which was up 6.19% to settle at 26.40 and Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG ) which gained 4.95% to close at 98.18.

The worst performers were First Solar Inc (NASDAQ: FSLR ) which was down 7.59% to 164.92 in late trade, The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES ) which lost 4.10% to settle at 11.71 and Caesars Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ: CZR ) which was down 3.68% to 29.57 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were CN Energy Group Inc (NASDAQ: CNEY ) which rose 2,459.83% to 2.99, Presidio Property Trust (NASDAQ: SQFT ) which was up 924.59% to settle at 6.25 and Protagenic Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PTIX ) which gained 263.70% to close at 11.02.

The worst performers were Zapp Electric Vehicles Group Ltd (NASDAQ: ZAPP ) which was down 46.31% to 0.15 in late trade, Affimed NV (NASDAQ: AFMD ) which lost 34.95% to settle at 0.18 and Autozi Internet Technology (NASDAQ: AZI ) which was down 26.84% to 0.75 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1581 to 1167 and 94 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1687 fell and 1619 advanced, while 133 ended unchanged.

Shares in Zapp Electric Vehicles Group Ltd (NASDAQ: ZAPP ) fell to all time lows; falling 46.31% or 0.13 to 0.15.

The CBOE Volatility Index , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 5.28% to 18.15.

Gold Futures for June delivery was up 1.39% or 44.37 to $3,231.67 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 0.24% or 0.15 to hit $62.12 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.14% or 0.09 to trade at $65.50 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.69% to 1.12, while USD/JPY fell 0.54% to 144.85.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.71% at 100.23.