Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Consumer Services, Technology and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.21%, while the S&P 500 index gained 1.23%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 1.53%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which rose 2.69% or 3.23 points to trade at 123.30 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 2.35% or 2.81 points to end at 122.15 and Visa Inc (NYSE:V) was up 2.04% or 1.37 points to 68.42 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which added 0.17% or 0.07 points to trade at 44.59 in late trade. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) added 0.36% or 0.29 points to end at 80.95 and Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) gained 0.47% or 0.34 points to 73.12.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) which rose 7.32% to 26.67, Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:SWKS) which was up 6.02% to settle at 100.20 and Tesoro Corporation (NYSE:TSO) which gained 5.34% to close at 98.40.
The worst performers were Noble Corporation PLC (NYSE:NE) which was down 4.16% to 14.29 in late trade, Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc (NYSE:DO) which lost 3.22% to settle at 24.32 and Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE:PXD) which was down 3.03% to 134.46 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Kingtone Wirelessinfo Solution (NASDAQ:KONE) which rose 28.35% to 5.800, Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALXA) which was up 26.87% to settle at 1.190 and aTyr Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:LIFE) which gained 19.77% to close at 18.36.
The worst performers were Eco Stim Energy Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:ESES) which was down 22.90% to 4.78 in late trade, NF Energy Saving Corporation (NASDAQ:NFEC) which lost 19.28% to settle at 1.130 and Helen of Troy Ltd (NASDAQ:HELE) which was down 10.68% to 86.71 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2520 to 577 and 1 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2222 rose and 555 declined, while 5 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 15.47% to 16.88.
In commodities trading, Gold for August delivery was up 0.33% or 3.80 to $1163.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.07% or 0.04 to hit $52.81 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 0.19% or 0.11 to trade at $58.72 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 1.05% to 1.1153, while USD/JPY rose 1.16% to 122.75.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.70% at 95.99.