U.S. equities ended Thursday's trading session in negative territory, pressured by declines in the Industrials, Healthcare and Technology sectors. The pullback left major benchmarks down for the day, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at its lowest level in three months.
At the New York Stock Exchange close, the Dow fell 1.56%, the S&P 500 lost 1.52%, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.78%.
On the Dow, the session's top performers were concentrated in energy, software and retail. Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) advanced 2.70%, adding 5.18 points to finish at 196.97. Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) climbed 2.65%, up 5.15 points to 199.28, and Walmart Inc (NASDAQ:WMT) rose 1.49%, adding 1.84 points to close at 125.33.
Meanwhile, the heaviest declines among Dow components were led by financial and industrial names. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) dropped 4.40% to 787.52, losing 36.24 points. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) slipped 4.36%, down 9.34 points to 204.76, and 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) fell 3.91% to 149.10, a decrease of 6.07 points.
The S&P 500 saw pronounced gains in several materials and chemicals stocks. Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE) led the index's winners with a 14.75% rise to 59.60. CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE:CF) climbed 13.21% to settle at 136.00, and LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB) added 10.33% to close at 74.33.
On the downside in the S&P 500, Charles River Laboratories (NYSE:CRL) fell 9.62% to 152.66. Estee Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE:EL) declined 7.92% to 84.29, and Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) lost 7.89%, ending the day at 23.92.
Movers on the Nasdaq included several small-cap and micro-cap stocks with extreme percentage swings. Agroz Inc (NASDAQ:AGRZ) surged 153.55% to 1.07, while Lightwave Logic Inc (NASDAQ:LWLG) rose 41.04% to 7.08 and Vera Bradley Inc (NASDAQ:VRA) gained 35.74% to close at 3.38. At the same time, Incannex Healthcare Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:IXHL) plunged 48.41% to 3.08, Decent Holding Inc (NASDAQ:DXST) fell 41.19% to 0.26 and Paranovus Entertainment Technology Ltd (NASDAQ:PAVS) declined 32.02% to 1.55.
Decliners outnumbered advancers across both primary U.S. exchanges. On the NYSE, 2,151 stocks fell versus 608 that advanced, with 65 unchanged. The Nasdaq saw 2,484 decliners and 891 advancers, while 181 issues finished unchanged.
Several shares hit milestone highs during the session. CF Industries (NYSE:CF) reached an all-time high, rising 13.21% to 136.00. Chevron (NYSE:CVX) also marked an all-time high, advancing 2.70% to 196.97. On the Nasdaq, Lightwave Logic (NASDAQ:LWLG) and Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) moved to 52-week highs, climbing to 7.08 and 3.38, respectively.
Market volatility increased as the CBOE Volatility Index, which tracks implied volatility for S&P 500 options, rose 12.55% to 27.27.
Commodity markets showed sharp divergence. Gold futures for April delivery fell 2.03% to 5,073.94 per troy ounce. In contrast, crude oil rallied strongly: April West Texas Intermediate crude rose 10.51% to 96.42 a barrel, while the May Brent contract gained 10.24% to trade at 101.40 a barrel.
In foreign exchange, the euro weakened against the dollar, with EUR/USD down 0.48% to 1.15, while USD/JPY strengthened 0.25% to 159.35. The US Dollar Index Futures traded higher by 0.53% at 99.75.
This session was characterized by sector-specific pressure in Industrials, Healthcare and Technology, a notable breadth of decliners across exchanges, elevated volatility readings, and large commodity price moves that likely contributed to the intraday risk repricing observed across equities.