Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Consumer Goods and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.61% to hit a new 3-month high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.63%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.92%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which rose 1.81% or 2.84 points to trade at 159.82 at the close. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) added 1.49% or 0.79 points to end at 53.70 and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was up 1.48% or 1.22 points to 83.53 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), which lost 1.20% or 1.14 points to trade at 94.26 in late trade. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) declined 0.75% or 0.63 points to end at 82.96 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) shed 0.49% or 0.30 points to 61.10.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) which rose 12.43% to 405.25, Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) which was up 5.35% to settle at 11.03 and Mallinckrodt (NYSE:MNK) which gained 4.94% to close at 64.31.
The worst performers were Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) which was down 7.04% to 3.83 in late trade, Transocean Ltd (NYSE:RIG) which lost 6.13% to settle at 8.58 and Marriot International (NASDAQ:MAR) which was down 5.68% to 67.14 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Sky Solar Holdings Adr Rep 8 (NASDAQ:SKYS) which rose 88.50% to 4.26, Pacific Sunwear of California Inc (NASDAQ:PSUN) which was up 75.16% to settle at 0.2200 and Hansen Medical Inc (NASDAQ:HNSN) which gained 39.85% to close at 3.650.
The worst performers were Genocea Bioscnc (NASDAQ:GNCA) which was down 23.13% to 5.95 in late trade, Carver Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:CARV) which lost 17.43% to settle at 4.31 and Westport Innovations Inc (NASDAQ:WPRT) which was down 16.86% to 2.17 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1707 to 1632 and 26 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1486 rose and 1075 declined, while 91 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.09% to 13.10 a new 6-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold for June delivery was down 0.91% or 11.30 to $1224.30 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 4.28% or 1.64 to hit $36.70 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 4.17% or 1.68 to trade at $38.65 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.14% to 1.1397, while USD/JPY fell 0.83% to 111.64.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.10% at 94.56.