Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Technology and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.13% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.09%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.22%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), which rose 1.36% or 1.25 points to trade at 92.86 at the close. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) added 1.22% or 0.48 points to end at 39.67 and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was up 0.97% or 0.89 points to 93.04 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which lost 1.01% or 0.49 points to trade at 47.86 in late trade. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) declined 0.69% or 0.44 points to end at 63.39 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) shed 0.53% or 1.27 points to 238.53.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ) which rose 6.42% to 21.71, Viacom B Inc (NASDAQ:VIAB) which was up 5.82% to settle at 26.00 and Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE:ADS) which gained 4.87% to close at 230.86.
The worst performers were Pacific Gas & Electric Co (NYSE:PCG) which was down 10.51% to 57.72 in late trade, Mallinckrodt (NYSE:MNK) which lost 4.15% to settle at 33.29 and JB Hunt Transport Services Inc (NASDAQ:JBHT) which was down 4.01% to 104.01 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Leading Brands Inc (NASDAQ:LBIX) which rose 68.15% to 2.270, China Lending Corp (NASDAQ:CLDC) which was up 42.75% to settle at 5.14 and Net Element Inc (NASDAQ:NETE) which gained 29.56% to close at 5.2600.
The worst performers were Antares Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:ATRS) which was down 37.80% to 2.320 in late trade, Tandem Diabetes Care Inc (NASDAQ:TNDM) which lost 36.11% to settle at 2.99 and Casi Pharma (NASDAQ:CASI) which was down 25.27% to 2.7200 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1800 to 1265 and 143 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1359 fell and 1147 advanced, while 139 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.33% to 9.58.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.71% or 9.19 to $1305.69 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in November rose 1.54% or 0.78 to hit $51.38 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract rose 1.62% or 0.91 to trade at $57.16 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.05% to 1.1825, while USD/JPY fell 0.37% to 111.88.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.04% at 92.90.