U.S. equities closed lower on Thursday, as losses in the Utilities, Technology and Industrials sectors propelled shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.47%, while the S&P 500 index fell 1.81%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 2.10%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which rose 3.35% or 4.93 points to trade at 152.16 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) added 1.34% or 2.89 points to end at 218.75 and Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) was up 0.56% or 0.34 points to 61.38 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN), which lost 3.49% or 8.28 points to trade at 228.91 in late trade. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) declined 2.89% or 8.98 points to end at 302.23 and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) shed 2.55% or 9.28 points to 355.09.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) which rose 3.35% to 152.16, Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) which was up 3.28% to settle at 91.01 and Kellogg Company (NYSE:K) which gained 3.11% to close at 63.58.

The worst performers were Lumen Technologies Inc (NYSE:LUMN) which was down 15.52% to 10.83 in late trade, Interpublic Group of Companies Inc (NYSE:IPG) which lost 8.77% to settle at 35.98 and Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA) which was down 7.78% to 466.63 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Dermata Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:DRMA) which rose 32.71% to 1.42, Hudson Capital Inc (NASDAQ:HUSN) which was up 25.00% to settle at 2.975 and Vaccinex Inc (NASDAQ:VCNX) which gained 24.36% to close at 1.940.

The worst performers were 2U Inc (NASDAQ:TWOU) which was down 47.86% to 9.38 in late trade, Quantum Corporation (NASDAQ:QMCO) which lost 38.99% to settle at 3.020 and Aspen Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASPU) which was down 38.00% to 1.240 at the close.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2459 to 821 and 110 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2603 fell and 1280 advanced, while 192 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 19.79% to 23.91.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.50% or 9.20 to $1827.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.43% or 0.39 to hit $90.05 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.04% or 0.04 to trade at $91.45 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.03% to 1.1430, while USD/JPY rose 0.01% to 116.01.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.18% at 95.668.

(SOURCE)