Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Industrials, Basic Materials and Technology sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.90% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.46%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.59%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW), which rose 4.02% or 1.92 points to trade at 49.70 at the close. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) added 3.28% or 4.39 points to end at 138.35 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was up 2.72% or 1.32 points to 49.92 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which lost 4.15% or 5.82 points to trade at 134.29 in late trade. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) declined 1.57% or 1.27 points to end at 79.73 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) shed 1.37% or 0.59 points to 42.39.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were JB Hunt Transport Services Inc (NASDAQ:JBHT) which rose 5.90% to 92.94, Signet Jewelers Ltd (NYSE:SIG) which was up 5.11% to settle at 18.51 and L Brands Inc (NYSE:LB) which gained 4.04% to close at 26.50.
The worst performers were Illumina Inc (NASDAQ:ILMN) which was down 16.12% to 305.05 in late trade, Pacific Gas & Electric Co (NYSE:PCG) which lost 5.11% to settle at 19.41 and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) which was down 4.15% to 134.29 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were SG Blocks Inc (NASDAQ:SGBX) which rose 59.38% to 1.02, OHR Pharmaceutical Inc (NASDAQ:OHRP) which was up 30.19% to settle at 5.390 and Synthesis Energy Systems Inc (NASDAQ:SES) which gained 29.87% to close at 0.5000.
The worst performers were Revolution Lighting Technologies (NASDAQ:RVLT) which was down 26.78% to 0.4247 in late trade, Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CNAT) which lost 23.96% to settle at 0.342 and Hebron Technology Co Ltd (NASDAQ:HEBT) which was down 20.88% to 1.44 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1925 to 1060 and 29 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1480 rose and 1159 declined, while 107 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.18% to 12.39 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.78% or 10.95 to $1417.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.28% or 0.17 to hit $60.37 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.54% or 0.36 to trade at $66.88 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.17% to 1.1271, while USD/JPY fell 0.52% to 107.92.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.25% at 96.428.