Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Healthcare and Financials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.59%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.48%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.01%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 2.85% or 14.69 points to trade at 530.00 at the close. Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) added 2.58% or 1.20 points to end at 47.79 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 1.88% or 1.92 points to 104.23 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM), which lost 1.10% or 1.65 points to trade at 148.04 in late trade. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) declined 0.95% or 0.38 points to end at 39.75 and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) shed 0.60% or 1.10 points to 182.99.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Ross Stores Inc (NASDAQ:ROST) which rose 9.86% to 107.59, Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) which was up 7.55% to settle at 13.67 and Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) which gained 4.37% to close at 37.73.
The worst performers were Live Nation Entertainment Inc (NYSE:LYV) which was down 7.85% to 66.21 in late trade, Fortinet Inc (NASDAQ:FTNT) which lost 3.66% to settle at 52.16 and Diamondback Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FANG) which was down 3.44% to 156.22 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were AGBA Acquisition Ltd (NASDAQ:AGBA) which rose 50.67% to 6.78, Paxmedica Inc (NASDAQ:PXMD) which was up 37.42% to settle at 2.13 and Mercurity Fintech Holding Inc ADR (NASDAQ:MFH) which gained 32.91% to close at 1.05.
The worst performers were Kiora Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:KPRX) which was down 35.85% to 3.83 in late trade, Bit Origin Ltd (NASDAQ:BTOG) which lost 29.80% to settle at 0.15 and InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:INM) which was down 28.13% to 2.76 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1884 to 1211 and 138 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1985 rose and 1772 declined, while 237 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.38% to 23.12.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.66% or 11.65 to $1,751.35 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in December fell 1.70% or 1.39 to hit $80.25 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 2.14% or 1.92 to trade at $87.86 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.36% to 1.03, while USD/JPY rose 0.13% to 140.37.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.25% at 106.86.