Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Technology, Healthcare and Financials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.38%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.60%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 1.21%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD), which rose 2.08% or 1.34 points to trade at 65.75 at the close. American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) added 1.88% or 1.18 points to end at 63.92 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was up 1.75% or 0.52 points to 30.15 in late trade.
Biggest losers included McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), which lost 2.16% or 2.71 points to trade at 122.56 in late trade. Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) declined 0.98% or 0.56 points to end at 56.48 and Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) shed 0.83% or 0.37 points to 43.95.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT) which rose 13.81% to 22.66, Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) which was up 7.25% to settle at 10.80 and L Brands Inc (NYSE:LB) which gained 4.82% to close at 63.54.
The worst performers were Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) which was down 6.46% to 54.77 in late trade, Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) which lost 6.38% to settle at 59.90 and Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) which was down 5.48% to 77.74 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Cellectar Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:CLRB) which rose 228.57% to 3.4500, Globus Maritime Ltd (NASDAQ:GLBS) which was up 41.89% to settle at 0.6100 and Globeimmune (NASDAQ:GBIM) which gained 32.00% to close at 1.32.
The worst performers were Neovasc Inc (NASDAQ:NVCN) which was down 75.00% to 0.46 in late trade, Onconova Th (NASDAQ:ONTX) which lost 24.96% to settle at 0.3977 and Xtera Communications Inc (NASDAQ:XCOM) which was down 3.43% to 1.69 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2581 to 736 and 26 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1935 rose and 643 declined, while 60 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 7.23% to 15.15.
In commodities trading, Gold for June delivery was down 0.12% or 1.55 to $1253.25 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in July fell 0.35% or 0.17 to hit $48.50 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.06% or 0.03 to trade at $48.84 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.14% to 1.1218, while USD/JPY rose 0.15% to 110.12.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.03% at 95.33.