Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Telecoms and Industrials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.21%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.33%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.39%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which rose 2.09% or 0.62 points to trade at 30.28 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 1.17% or 1.97 points to end at 169.98 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) was up 1.01% or 0.92 points to 92.31 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), which lost 1.04% or 1.87 points to trade at 178.70 in late trade. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) declined 0.72% or 1.80 points to end at 248.38 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) shed 0.44% or 0.29 points to 65.60.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ:ULTA) which rose 4.62% to 286.42, Estee Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE:EL) which was up 3.50% to settle at 85.78 and Endo International PLC (NASDAQ:ENDP) which gained 2.75% to close at 10.82.
The worst performers were Transdigm Group Incorporated (NYSE:TDG) which was down 4.25% to 231.37 in late trade, SL Green Realty Corporation (NYSE:SLG) which lost 1.99% to settle at 106.68 and Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) which was down 1.98% to 47.42 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Cerecor Inc (NASDAQ:CERC) which rose 64.38% to 1.200, Catabasis Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CATB) which was up 53.38% to settle at 2.040 and Mrv Communicatio (NASDAQ:MRVC) which gained 41.96% to close at 10.15.
The worst performers were FalconStor Software Inc (NASDAQ:FALC) which was down 30.16% to 0.433 in late trade, Ocera Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:OCRX) which lost 25.93% to settle at 1.400 and Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ:FNSR) which was down 22.69% to 26.98 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2103 to 1110 and 44 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1376 rose and 1117 declined, while 127 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 5.04% to 11.68.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.07% or 0.85 to $1204.05 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April fell 1.68% or 0.83 to hit $48.45 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 1.57% or 0.82 to trade at $51.37 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 1.03% to 1.0685, while USD/JPY fell 0.22% to 114.72.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.67% at 101.30.