Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Technology, Basic Materials and Industrials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3.29%, while the S&P 500 index gained 3.43%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 4.26%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which rose 6.14% or 2.73 points to trade at 47.22 at the close. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) added 5.46% or 6.64 points to end at 128.15 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was up 5.20% or 16.18 points to 327.08 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which added 0.25% or 0.14 points to trade at 56.36 in late trade. Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) added 0.62% or 0.58 points to end at 93.44 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) gained 1.17% or 2.77 points to 239.62.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Mattel Inc (NASDAQ:MAT) which rose 12.30% to 10.41, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) which was up 11.44% to settle at 19.00 and Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) which gained 9.72% to close at 297.57.
The worst performers were Advance Auto Parts Inc (NYSE:AAP) which was down 2.48% to 158.81 in late trade, KKR & Co LP (F:KR51) which lost 2.09% to settle at 16.43 and Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) which was down 1.51% to 25.40 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Phunware Inc (NASDAQ:PHUN) which rose 102.09% to 54.06, Cancer Genetics Inc (NASDAQ:CGIX) which was up 65.17% to settle at 0.440 and National American University (NASDAQ:NAUH) which gained 42.06% to close at 0.270.
The worst performers were Draper Oakwood Technology Acquisition Inc Class A (NASDAQ:RBZ) which was down 31.22% to 1.30 in late trade, Endologix Inc (NASDAQ:ELGX) which lost 15.54% to settle at 0.60 and Boxlight Corp Class A (NASDAQ:BOXL) which was down 14.71% to 1.63 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2768 to 316 and 63 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2335 rose and 334 declined, while 44 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 15.99% to 21.38.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.65% or 8.40 to $1286.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 2.42% or 1.14 to hit $48.23 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 2.41% or 1.35 to trade at $57.30 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.06% to 1.1399, while USD/JPY rose 0.77% to 108.47.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.13% at 95.755.