Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Oil & Gas and Basic Materials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.39%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.42%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.43%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Boeing Company (NYSE:BA), which rose 0.96% or 1.25 points to trade at 131.15 at the close. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) added 0.94% or 1.00 points to end at 107.73 and Visa Inc (NYSE:V) was up 0.85% or 0.69 points to 81.99 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which lost 0.89% or 0.52 points to trade at 58.02 in late trade. Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) declined 0.48% or 0.35 points to end at 72.49 and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shed 0.11% or 0.10 points to 88.21.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were VeriSign Inc (NASDAQ:VRSN) which rose 5.63% to 79.02, Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) which was up 5.60% to settle at 6.600 and Anadarko Petroleum Corp (NYSE:APC) which gained 5.51% to close at 56.49.
The worst performers were Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) which was down 4.77% to 46.38 in late trade, Mylan Inc (NASDAQ:MYL) which lost 4.65% to settle at 39.97 and Mallinckrodt (NYSE:MNK) which was down 4.23% to 72.39 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Siebert Financial Corp (NASDAQ:SIEB) which rose 31.03% to 1.520, Nova Lifestyle I (NASDAQ:NVFY) which was up 25.00% to settle at 1.250 and Impinj Inc (NASDAQ:PI) which gained 18.50% to close at 32.67.
The worst performers were Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX) which was down 31.56% to 10.91 in late trade, ChemoCentryx Inc (NASDAQ:CCXI) which lost 20.23% to settle at 4.220 and Xtera Communications Inc (NASDAQ:XCOM) which was down 19.76% to 0.682 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2503 to 661 and 69 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1665 rose and 833 declined, while 127 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 11.35% to 11.95.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was up 0.91% or 11.95 to $1329.05 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 2.62% or 1.13 to hit $44.29 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract rose 2.71% or 1.23 to trade at $46.68 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.37% to 1.1156, while USD/JPY rose 0.71% to 103.95.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.21% at 95.86.