U.S. shares higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.76%

Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Technology , Consumer Services and Industrials sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.76%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 2.47%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 3.33%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL ), which rose 4.08% or 5.86 points to trade at 149.64 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE: BA ) added 3.52% or 4.50 points to end at 132.23 and Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS ) was up 3.51% or 3.71 points to 109.32 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO ), which added 0.59% or 0.38 points to trade at 64.68 in late trade. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ ) added 0.80% or 0.41 points to end at 51.40 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE: MRK ) gained 0.83% or 0.77 points to 93.08.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ: ULTA ) which rose 12.47% to 425.08, Autodesk Inc (NASDAQ: ADSK ) which was up 10.31% to settle at 211.38 and Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA ) which gained 8.73% to close at 147.66.
The worst performers were Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY ) which was down 1.87% to 76.14 in late trade, CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE: CF ) which lost 1.02% to settle at 95.72 and Philip Morris International Inc (NYSE: PM ) which was down 1.02% to 106.97 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Avadel Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ: AVDL ) which rose 133.64% to 2.50, Oncternal Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: ONCT ) which was up 88.08% to settle at 1.54 and SIGA Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: SIGA ) which gained 41.91% to close at 13.68.
The worst performers were Performance Shipping Inc (NASDAQ: PSHG ) which was down 63.56% to 0.66 in late trade, Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: IOVA ) which lost 53.57% to settle at 7.02 and SpringWorks Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: SWTX ) which was down 40.45% to 18.36 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2777 to 440 and 73 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 3079 rose and 680 declined, while 189 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.47% to 25.72.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.18% or 3.30 to $1,850.90 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 0.90% or 1.03 to hit $115.12 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 1.20% or 1.37 to trade at $115.54 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.05% to 1.07, while USD/JPY fell 0.02% to 127.11.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.16% at 101.69.

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