Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Financials, Basic Materials and Industrials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.03%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.66%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.46%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which rose 11.54% or 13.46 points to trade at 130.06 at the close. Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) added 6.21% or 3.41 points to end at 58.30 and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) was up 4.69% or 4.98 points to 111.21 in late trade.
Biggest losers included UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which lost 5.18% or 12.20 points to trade at 223.22 in late trade. Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) declined 4.94% or 6.23 points to end at 119.76 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) shed 1.32% or 0.56 points to 41.71.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Anadarko Petroleum Corp (NYSE:APC) which rose 32.01% to 61.78, Pacific Gas & Electric Co (NYSE:PCG) which was up 20.65% to settle at 23.08 and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) which gained 11.54% to close at 130.06.
The worst performers were Anthem Inc (NYSE:ANTM) which was down 8.48% to 252.85 in late trade, National Oilwell Varco Inc (NYSE:NOV) which lost 8.39% to settle at 26.87 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) which was down 5.18% to 223.22 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Taronis Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:TRNX) which rose 47.46% to 0.990, Histogenics Corp (NASDAQ:HSGX) which was up 33.53% to settle at 0.228 and Reebonz Holding Ltd (NASDAQ:RBZ) which gained 32.99% to close at 11.49.
The worst performers were TRACON Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:TCON) which was down 49.05% to 0.6623 in late trade, Bridgeline Digital Inc (NASDAQ:BLIN) which lost 20.92% to settle at 0.1890 and Future Fintech Group Inc (NASDAQ:FTFT) which was down 20.00% to 1.6400 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1882 to 1092 and 104 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1426 rose and 1202 declined, while 81 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 7.76% to 12.01 a new 6-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.03% or 0.35 to $1293.65 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 0.35% or 0.22 to hit $63.80 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 0.97% or 0.69 to trade at $71.52 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.49% to 1.1305, while USD/JPY rose 0.34% to 112.03.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.26% at 96.560.