Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Financials, Oil & Gas and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.28% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 1.64%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 1.85%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE), which rose 3.04% or 0.90 points to trade at 30.50 at the close. EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) added 2.69% or 1.67 points to end at 63.83 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was up 2.47% or 3.01 points to 125.10 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), which lost 0.63% or 0.52 points to trade at 81.75 in late trade. Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) declined 0.36% or 0.24 points to end at 67.17 and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) gained 0.01% or 0.01 points to 82.19.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) which rose 10.23% to 24.78, Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE:SWN) which was up 10.19% to settle at 8.00 and Anadarko Petroleum Corp (NYSE:APC) which gained 8.92% to close at 46.29.
The worst performers were PEPCO Holdings Inc (NYSE:POM) which was down 8.99% to 22.07 in late trade, Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) which lost 2.58% to settle at 28.70 and Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE:NEM) which was down 2.45% to 26.68 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Globeimmune (NASDAQ:GBIM) which rose 108.77% to 2.38, Threshold Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:THLD) which was up 79.84% to settle at 0.5451 and 1st Century Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:FCTY) which gained 32.08% to close at 10.87.
The worst performers were Blue Earth Inc (NASDAQ:BBLU) which was down 25.05% to 0.1200 in late trade, DryShips Inc (NASDAQ:DRYS) which lost 21.39% to settle at 2.1500 and Ossen Innovation Co Ltd (NASDAQ:OSN) which was down 17.39% to 0.7600 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2725 to 646 and 16 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2016 rose and 567 declined, while 53 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 8.48% to 16.52 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold for April delivery was down 1.74% or 22.20 to $1250.60 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 1.82% or 0.69 to hit $38.53 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 1.02% or 0.41 to trade at $40.46 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.26% to 1.1149, while USD/JPY rose 0.53% to 113.80.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.03% at 96.22.