U.S. equities finished the session lower on Thursday, pressured by declines across Consumer Services, Healthcare and Industrials stocks.
At the close on the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.31%. The S&P 500 ended the day down 0.86%, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.00%.
On the Dow, the strongest performers were Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV), which rose 0.63% or 2.27 points to close at 364.49; McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), which gained 0.63% or 1.68 points to finish at 269.13; and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which was up 0.36% or 0.39 points to 107.32 in late trade.
The laggards among the Dow components included Walmart Inc (NASDAQ:WMT), which fell 9.15% or 10.46 points to end at 103.84; Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), down 3.20% or 7.10 points to 215.10; and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD), which declined 2.84% or 9.79 points to 334.52.
Within the S&P 500, Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ:NDSN) led the gainers, climbing 7.96% to 334.59. Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) rose 6.94% to settle at 620.94, and CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE:CF) added 5.61% to close at 125.70.
On the downside, Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) posted a steep drop of 23.55% to 133.32 in late trade. Walmart Inc (NASDAQ:WMT) again featured among the largest S&P decliners, losing 9.15% to settle at 103.84. Intuitive Surgical Inc (NASDAQ:ISRG) was down 5.84% to 374.48 at the close.
The Nasdaq Composite's top performers included a number of big percentage gains among smaller or more volatile issues. Curanex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CURX) rose 1,851.85% to 5.27, Borealis Foods Inc (NASDAQ:BRLS) climbed 105.85% to 1.69, and Jianzhi Century Technology Group Co Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:JZ) gained 92.35% to close at 3.27.
Among the worst performers reported on the Nasdaq were Profusa Inc (NASDAQ:PFSA), down 44.22% to 7.57; CDT Environmental Technology Investment Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:CDTG), which lost 39.20% to settle at 1.83; and Tenon Medical Inc (NASDAQ:TNON), off 38.04% to 7.07 at the close.
Across the exchanges, decliners outnumbered advancers. On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,776 issues fell and 946 advanced, with 86 unchanged. On the Nasdaq, 2,123 stocks declined, 1,309 rose and 198 finished flat.
Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ:NDSN) reached an all-time high during the session, rising 7.96% or 24.67 points to 334.59.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which tracks implied volatility for S&P 500 options, was higher by 7.52% to 16.01.
In commodities, December Gold Futures rose 0.69% or 31.45 to $4,576.75 a troy ounce. October crude oil futures gained 2.54% or 2.14 to $86.53 a barrel, while the October Brent contract increased 1.98% or 1.81 to $93.43 a barrel.
In currency markets, EUR/USD was essentially unchanged, moving 0.01% to 1.17, while USD/JPY rose 0.59% to 159.12. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.07% at 98.80.
This session combined broad market weakness with isolated, large single-stock moves. While major indexes closed lower, several industrial and specialty names posted meaningful gains and a set of smaller-cap and healthcare-related names recorded extreme percentage moves in either direction.