Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Technology, Healthcare and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.20% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.07%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.41%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 2.80% or 3.25 points to trade at 119.33 at the close. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) added 2.37% or 2.59 points to end at 112.09 and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) was up 1.12% or 1.06 points to 95.39 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which lost 1.17% or 0.38 points to trade at 32.14 in late trade. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) declined 0.99% or 1.80 points to end at 179.27 and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) shed 0.96% or 0.77 points to 79.26.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Autodesk Inc (NASDAQ:ADSK) which rose 7.45% to 50.84, American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) which was up 6.74% to settle at 42.42 and United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) which gained 6.60% to close at 55.71.
The worst performers were Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) which was down 6.81% to 10.26 in late trade, Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE:SWN) which lost 5.81% to settle at 12.80 and Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) which was down 5.32% to 27.41 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Daegis Inc (NASDAQ:DAEG) which rose 96.34% to 0.805, Uni-Pixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL) which was up 58.47% to settle at 1.87 and UTi Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ:UTIW) which gained 51.06% to close at 7.13.
The worst performers were Superconductor Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:SCON) which was down 32.26% to 0.284 in late trade, SMART Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:SMT) which lost 28.36% to settle at 0.480 and Ldr Holding (NASDAQ:LDRH) which was down 26.35% to 26.67 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1344 to 1177 and 4 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1316 rose and 1168 declined, while 79 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.61% to 17.14 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was up 1.08% or 12.40 to $1156.70 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 0.16% or 0.08 to hit $49.51 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract fell 0.97% or 0.52 to trade at $52.53 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.73% to 1.1360, while USD/JPY rose 0.28% to 120.25.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.49% at 94.94.