U.S. shares higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.18%

Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Oil & Gas , Basic Materials and Consumer Goods sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.18%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.20%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.10%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were General Electric Company (NYSE: GE ), which rose 2.40% or 0.59 points to trade at 25.14 at the close. Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX ) added 1.06% or 1.14 points to end at 108.76 and Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE ) was up 1.04% or 0.55 points to 53.36 in late trade.

Biggest losers included United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX ), which lost 1.50% or 1.80 points to trade at 117.92 in late trade. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT ) declined 1.11% or 0.83 points to end at 73.94 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE: TRV ) shed 1.06% or 1.28 points to 119.90.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG ) which rose 5.17% to 26.87, Transocean Ltd (NYSE: RIG ) which was up 4.90% to settle at 8.56 and Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE: SWN ) which gained 4.22% to close at 5.68.

The worst performers were Cooper Companies Inc (NYSE: COO ) which was down 5.84% to 236.18 in late trade, Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ: EA ) which lost 1.80% to settle at 119.31 and Progressive Corporation (NYSE: PGR ) which was down 1.76% to 45.66 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Aptevo Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: APVO ) which rose 58.65% to 2.110, Neovasc Inc (NASDAQ: NVCN ) which was up 44.30% to settle at 1.140 and TRACON Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: TCON ) which gained 26.00% to close at 3.15.

The worst performers were Ambarella Inc (NASDAQ: AMBA ) which was down 22.40% to 42.215 in late trade, Tech Data Corporation (NASDAQ: TECD ) which lost 20.70% to settle at 87.46 and Cadiz Inc (NASDAQ: CDZI ) which was down 20.49% to 9.70 at the close.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2166 to 919 and 146 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1598 rose and 860 declined, while 173 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.

The CBOE Volatility Index , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.44% to 10.12.

In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.64% or 8.52 to $1330.72 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 0.21% or 0.10 to hit $47.33 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract fell 0.23% or 0.12 to trade at $52.74 a barrel.

EUR/USD was down 0.39% to 1.1863, while USD/JPY rose 0.26% to 110.27.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.22% at 92.79.