Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Consumer Goods and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.19%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.24%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.57%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which rose 6.38% or 1.92 points to trade at 32.00 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 1.51% or 1.76 points to end at 118.01 and Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) was up 1.33% or 1.49 points to 113.86 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), which lost 0.92% or 0.97 points to trade at 104.28 in late trade. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) declined 0.88% or 0.74 points to end at 83.58 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) shed 0.80% or 0.99 points to 123.25.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Altera Corporation (NASDAQ:ALTR) which rose 28.45% to 44.41, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) which was up 6.47% to settle at 79.85 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) which gained 6.38% to close at 32.00.
The worst performers were Transocean Ltd (NYSE:RIG) which was down 5.48% to 14.49 in late trade, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which lost 3.59% to settle at 18.80 and QEP Resources Inc (NYSE:QEP) which was down 2.81% to 21.07 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Great Basin Scientific Inc (NASDAQ:GBSN) which rose 40.72% to 2.73, Euro Tech Holdings Company Limited (NASDAQ:CLWT) which was up 30.37% to settle at 3.520 and Altera Corporation (NASDAQ:ALTR) which gained 28.45% to close at 44.41.
The worst performers were Ohr Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OHRP) which was down 68.61% to 2.74 in late trade, Interphase Corporation (NASDAQ:INPH) which lost 22.32% to settle at 1.74 and Axion Power International Inc (NASDAQ:AXPW) which was down 21.83% to 0.035 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1655 to 1157 and 1 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1660 rose and 1122 declined, while 8 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.37% to 15.11.
In commodities trading, Gold for April delivery was down 0.65% or 7.80 to $1197.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 5.98% or 3.08 to hit $48.35 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract fell 5.21% or 3.08 to trade at $56.10 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.13% to 1.0898, while USD/JPY fell 0.01% to 119.17.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.02% at 97.56.