Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Consumer Goods and Financials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.07%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.13%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.28%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 0.90% or 1.45 points to trade at 163.03 at the close. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) added 0.58% or 0.49 points to end at 84.96 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) was up 0.52% or 0.39 points to 74.97 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which lost 0.49% or 0.31 points to trade at 63.24 in late trade. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) declined 0.47% or 0.58 points to end at 123.14 and Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) shed 0.44% or 0.23 points to 51.91.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Williams Companies Inc (NYSE:WMB) which rose 4.16% to 31.56, Dun & Bradstreet Corporation (NYSE:DNB) which was up 3.68% to settle at 123.27 and Red Hat Inc (NYSE:RHT) which gained 3.35% to close at 71.01.
The worst performers were Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) which was down 3.11% to 116.36 in late trade, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (NASDAQ:BBBY) which lost 1.47% to settle at 40.77 and Arconic Inc (NYSE:ARNC) which was down 1.44% to 19.78 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Inventergy (NASDAQ:INVT) which rose 39.61% to 0.670, Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:PTLA) which was up 33.80% to settle at 25.06 and Moleculin Biotech Inc (NASDAQ:MBRX) which gained 29.80% to close at 1.96.
The worst performers were Memorial Production Partners LP (NASDAQ:MEMP) which was down 55.77% to 0.180 in late trade, Strongbridge Biopharma plc (NASDAQ:SBBP) which lost 30.56% to settle at 2.5000 and Metabolix Inc (NASDAQ:MBLX) which was down 13.95% to 0.370 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1885 to 1318 and 63 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1703 rose and 790 declined, while 137 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.17% to 11.43.
In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was up 0.22% or 2.45 to $1133.15 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in February rose 0.26% or 0.14 to hit $53.09 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.05% or 0.03 to trade at $55.08 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.14% to 1.0451, while USD/JPY fell 0.16% to 117.36.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.08% at 102.99.