Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Telecoms and Consumer Goods sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.36% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.39%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.34%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO), which rose 1.21% or 0.36 points to trade at 30.07 at the close. Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) added 0.98% or 0.41 points to end at 41.52 and EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) was up 0.94% or 0.66 points to 70.98 in late trade.
Biggest losers included UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which lost 0.56% or 0.86 points to trade at 152.68 in late trade. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) declined 0.41% or 0.39 points to end at 95.79 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) shed 0.36% or 0.77 points to 211.54.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) which rose 2.74% to 30.59, Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) which was up 2.68% to settle at 53.25 and The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) which gained 2.56% to close at 11.63.
The worst performers were Concho Resources Inc (NYSE:CXO) which was down 3.04% to 134.18 in late trade, Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) which lost 2.98% to settle at 16.28 and Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) which was down 2.37% to 25.56 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Interpace Diagnostics Group Inc (NASDAQ:IDXG) which rose 110.37% to 0.2819, Industrial Services of America Inc (NASDAQ:IDSA) which was up 75.00% to settle at 2.800 and PhotoMedex Inc (NASDAQ:PHMD) which gained 46.15% to close at 2.4700.
The worst performers were Interlink Electronics Inc (NASDAQ:LINK) which was down 18.11% to 7.78 in late trade, Globus Maritime Ltd (NASDAQ:GLBS) which lost 13.56% to settle at 3.5700 and Airgain Inc (NASDAQ:AIRG) which was down 13.51% to 23.31 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1855 to 1188 and 100 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1562 rose and 851 declined, while 189 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.72% to 12.34 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was down 0.53% or 6.30 to $1183.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 4.11% or 1.97 to hit $45.99 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 3.90% or 1.91 to trade at $47.09 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.31% to 1.0587, while USD/JPY fell 0.19% to 113.15.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.28% at 101.48.