U.S. stocks closed lower on Thursday, as selling pressure in Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Industrials pushed the major indexes into negative territory.
At the New York Stock Exchange close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.63%. The S&P 500 retreated 0.38%, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.13%.
Large-cap movers
Among Dow components, Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) finished as one of the session's top performers, rising 2.80% to close at 186.26. International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) advanced 2.47% to 231.31, while NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) added 1.76% to settle at 211.50.
On the downside, Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) posted the largest decline within the Dow, falling 3.37% to 895.69. JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) lost 2.74% to end at 306.27 and 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) slipped 1.90% to 143.75.
S&P 500 individual movers
The S&P 500 saw some outsized individual moves. Fortinet Inc (NASDAQ:FTNT) led gains on the benchmark, jumping 20.03% to 107.97. Axon Enterprise Inc (NASDAQ:AXON) climbed 10.60% to finish at 426.77, and Paycom (NYSE:PAYC) rose 9.55% to 138.43.
Conversely, Zoetis Inc (NYSE:ZTS) fell 21.50% to 87.31, Tapestry Inc (NYSE:TPR) declined 12.30% to 130.52 and FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC) dropped 7.51% to 13.68.
Notable moves on the Nasdaq
The Nasdaq Composite's top performers included Atara Biotherapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ATRA), which surged 92.82% to 9.93. Sobr Safe Inc (NASDAQ:SOBR) rallied 74.76% to 1.80, and Republic Power Group Ltd (NASDAQ:RPGL) gained 72.93% to close at 2.30.
At the opposite end, some smaller-cap listings experienced extreme drops. GD Culture Group Ltd (NASDAQ:GDC) plunged 87.93% to 0.15, enGene Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ENGN) lost 80.57% to 1.72 and OneConstruction Group Ltd (NASDAQ:ONEG) declined 80.34% to 1.29 at the close.
Breadth and notable technicals
Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,725 to 1,000, with 94 stocks unchanged. On the Nasdaq, 1,991 issues fell and 1,386 advanced, while 172 finished unchanged.
Fortinet's shares reached 52-week highs during the session, closing up 20.03% at 107.97. Zoetis's shares fell to five-year lows, dropping 21.50% to 87.31. GD Culture Group and enGene Holdings each fell to all-time lows in late trade.
Volatility, commodities and currencies
The CBOE Volatility Index, which gauges implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.78% at 17.08.
In commodities, Gold Futures for June delivery rose 0.58% to 4,721.71 a troy ounce. Crude oil for June delivery increased 1.33% to 96.34 a barrel, and the July Brent contract rose 0.25% to 101.52 a barrel.
On the foreign exchange front, EUR/USD was essentially unchanged at 1.17, while USD/JPY gained 0.31% to 156.88. The US Dollar Index Futures ticked up 0.21% to 98.08.
Market context and concluding observations
The session was marked by divergent stock-level outcomes amid broader sector weakness. Industrials, materials and energy-related names weighed on the major averages even as select technology and cybersecurity issues posted strong gains. Market participants also registered moves in small-cap and micro-cap listings with exceptionally large percentage changes, both to the upside and downside.
Overall, the indexes closed lower with the Dow seeing the largest percentage drop among the three major benchmarks. The distribution of advancing and declining issues indicates wider weakness across exchanges, while volatility and commodity prices showed modest directional moves.