Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Basic Materials and Telecoms sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.44%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.37%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.08%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT), which rose 2.38% or 2.37 points to trade at 101.91 at the close. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) added 1.70% or 1.77 points to end at 106.01 and Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was up 1.67% or 0.79 points to 48.19 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which lost 1.39% or 2.77 points to trade at 197.18 in late trade. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) declined 0.90% or 0.42 points to end at 46.20 and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) shed 0.26% or 0.14 points to 53.42.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Booking Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:BKNG) which rose 5.40% to 1829.85, News Corp A (NASDAQ:NWSA) which was up 4.11% to settle at 11.90 and Keurig Dr Pepper Inc (NYSE:KDP) which gained 4.00% to close at 29.41.
The worst performers were Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC) which was down 12.54% to 19.39 in late trade, Wynn Resorts Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN) which lost 4.72% to settle at 129.89 and Pacific Gas & Electric Co (NYSE:PCG) which was down 3.88% to 18.60 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Genetic Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:GENE) which rose 95.31% to 1.375, Charles & Colvard Ltd (NASDAQ:CTHR) which was up 37.29% to settle at 1.6200 and Westport Fuel Systems Inc (NASDAQ:WPRT) which gained 33.53% to close at 2.230.
The worst performers were Puma Biotechnology Inc (NASDAQ:PBYI) which was down 38.64% to 18.42 in late trade, Qurate Retail Inc Series B (NASDAQ:QRTEB) which lost 28.95% to settle at 11.777 and Verastem Inc (NASDAQ:VSTM) which was down 28.04% to 1.360 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1907 to 1060 and 116 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1391 rose and 1247 declined, while 88 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 16.02% to 16.04.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.12% or 1.50 to $1286.70 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 0.05% or 0.03 to hit $61.73 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 0.58% or 0.41 to trade at $70.80 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.13% to 1.1235, while USD/JPY rose 0.20% to 109.97.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.05% at 97.115.