Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Healthcare and Consumer Goods sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.41%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.56%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.31%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN), which rose 2.12% or 4.93 points to trade at 238.03 at the close. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) added 2.04% or 2.93 points to end at 146.72 and Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) was up 1.64% or 0.98 points to 60.90 in late trade.
Biggest losers included American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), which lost 1.83% or 2.98 points to trade at 159.78 in late trade. Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) declined 1.83% or 1.75 points to end at 94.08 and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) shed 1.52% or 1.93 points to 124.91.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ:ATVI) which rose 5.91% to 84.39, KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) which was up 5.24% to settle at 11.86 and Intuitive Surgical Inc (NASDAQ:ISRG) which gained 4.89% to close at 256.42.
The worst performers were Monolithic Power Systems Inc (NASDAQ:MPWR) which was down 4.92% to 485.40 in late trade, Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH) which lost 4.24% to settle at 195.99 and Lam Research Corp (NASDAQ:LRCX) which was down 4.11% to 502.06 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Greenbrook TMS Inc (NASDAQ:GBNH) which rose 106.00% to 1.03, Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:VORB) which was up 50.06% to settle at 0.80 and Virios Therapeutics Llc (NASDAQ:VIRI) which gained 43.55% to close at 0.44.
The worst performers were Allarity Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ALLR) which was down 31.95% to 0.08 in late trade, Hyzon Motors Inc (NASDAQ:HYZN) which lost 26.99% to settle at 0.73 and Summit Healthcare Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:YS) which was down 26.31% to 4.79 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1862 to 1133 and 116 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2012 rose and 1543 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 3.85% to 21.74.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.75% or 14.90 to $1,981.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 1.09% or 0.76 to hit $69.20 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 1.25% or 0.95 to trade at $74.96 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.65% to 1.08, while USD/JPY fell 0.09% to 130.70.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.56% at 102.78.