Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Telecoms, Financials and Healthcare sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.11%, while the S&P 500 index gained 2.05%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 2.08%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Apple Inc (O:AAPL), which rose 3.32% or 3.83 points to trade at 119.03 at the close. Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase & Co (N:JPM) added 3.18% or 2.09 points to end at 67.89 and Microsoft Corporation (O:MSFT) was up 3.15% or 1.71 points to 55.91 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Caterpillar Inc (N:CAT), which rose 0.49% or 0.34 points to trade at 69.98 at the close. Exxon Mobil Corporation (N:XOM) added 0.57% or 0.45 points to end at 78.86 and American Express Company (N:AXP) was up 0.97% or 0.68 points to 71.10.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Newmont Mining Corporation (N:NEM) which rose 9.24% to 20.46, Skyworks Solutions Inc (O:SWKS) which was up 5.37% to settle at 87.92 and Endo International PLC (O:ENDP) which gained 4.83% to close at 62.70.
The worst performers were NRG Energy Inc (N:NRG) which was down 17.96% to 9.00 in late trade, Kinder Morgan Inc (N:KMI) which lost 12.67% to settle at 16.82 and CONSOL Energy Inc (N:CNX) which was down 11.16% to 7.72 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Live Ventures Inc (O:LIVE) which rose 64.79% to 2.34, DragonWave Inc (O:DRWI) which was up 51.66% to settle at 0.160 and Net Element International, Inc. (O:NETE) which gained 47.51% to close at 0.26.
The worst performers were Lilis Energy Inc (O:LLEX) which was down 43.58% to 0.203 in late trade, Dex Media Inc (O:DXM) which lost 21.26% to settle at 0.13 and Truett Hurs (O:THST) which was down 20.50% to 1.59 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2220 to 1219 and 5 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1725 rose and 910 declined, while 63 ended unchanged.
Shares in NRG Energy Inc (N:NRG) fell to all time lows; falling 17.96% or 1.97 to 9.00. Shares in Kinder Morgan Inc (N:KMI) fell to all time lows; down 12.67% or 2.44 to 16.82. Shares in Microsoft Corporation (O:MSFT) rose to 5-year highs; rising 3.15% or 1.71 to 55.91.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 17.61% to 14.92.
Gold for February delivery was up 2.40% or 25.50 to $1086.70 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 2.37% or 0.97 to hit $40.10 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract fell 1.45% or 0.64 to trade at $43.20 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.64% to 1.0872, while USD/JPY rose 0.47% to 123.14.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.54% at 98.34.