Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Telecoms, Healthcare and Oil & Gas sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.49% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.55%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.40%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which rose 2.02% or 1.67 points to trade at 84.16 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 1.71% or 3.76 points to end at 223.91 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 1.46% or 0.80 points to 55.57 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), which lost 1.03% or 0.47 points to trade at 45.31 in late trade. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) declined 0.90% or 2.17 points to end at 238.13 and DowDuPont Inc (NYSE:DWDP) shed 0.90% or 0.64 points to 70.73.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALXN) which rose 7.19% to 114.46, Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) which was up 4.04% to settle at 44.97 and CenturyLink Inc (NYSE:CTL) which gained 4.04% to close at 14.67.
The worst performers were Cooper Companies Inc (NYSE:COO) which was down 5.13% to 226.56 in late trade, Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) which lost 2.96% to settle at 39.60 and Twenty-First Century Fox Inc A (NASDAQ:FOXA) which was down 2.57% to 33.30 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Global Brokerage Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GLBR) which rose 55.56% to 1.12, Burcon Nutrascience Corp (NASDAQ:BUR) which was up 53.19% to settle at 0.720 and Pyxis Tankers Inc (NASDAQ:PXS) which gained 41.11% to close at 5.3200.
The worst performers were Erytech Pharma SA ADR (NASDAQ:ERYP) which was down 31.43% to 19.20 in late trade, Aqua Metals Inc (NASDAQ:AQMS) which lost 24.71% to settle at 1.98 and Liberty Tripadvisor Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LTRPB) which was down 20.00% to 9.60 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1814 to 1253 and 149 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1323 rose and 1195 declined, while 137 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 5.81% to 9.57 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.25% or 3.10 to $1250.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 1.15% or 0.65 to hit $57.34 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 1.83% or 1.14 to trade at $63.34 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.05% to 1.1767, while USD/JPY rose 0.33% to 113.46.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.13% at 93.87.