Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Consumer Goods, Telecoms and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.31%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.47%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.34%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 2.69% or 6.21 points to trade at 237.00 at the close. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) added 2.50% or 2.58 points to end at 105.86 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) was up 2.13% or 2.90 points to 139.03 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which lost 8.99% or 5.18 points to trade at 52.43 in late trade. Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) declined 2.10% or 1.73 points to end at 80.49 and Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) shed 1.92% or 1.99 points to 101.53.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) which rose 10.74% to 10.41, Align Technology Inc (NASDAQ:ALGN) which was up 7.16% to settle at 317.98 and Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) which gained 6.45% to close at 93.73.
The worst performers were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) which was down 8.99% to 52.43 in late trade, Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) which lost 5.65% to settle at 77.12 and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) which was down 4.77% to 178.00 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Aratana Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PETX) which rose 39.65% to 4.79, Helen of Troy Ltd (NASDAQ:HELE) which was up 21.61% to settle at 140.29 and FTD Companies Inc (NASDAQ:FTD) which gained 21.77% to close at 0.56.
The worst performers were Precipio Inc (NASDAQ:PRPO) which was down 31.70% to 0.3200 in late trade, Alterity Therapeutics Ltd (NASDAQ:ATHE) which lost 24.42% to settle at 1.3000 and Golden Bull Ltd (NASDAQ:DNJR) which was down 15.54% to 5.98 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2029 to 940 and 114 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1760 rose and 879 declined, while 76 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.92% to 12.73.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.67% or 8.60 to $1288.30 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in June fell 3.63% or 2.37 to hit $62.84 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 3.67% or 2.73 to trade at $71.62 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.22% to 1.1154, while USD/JPY fell 0.04% to 111.58.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.13% at 97.787.