Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Financials and Technology sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.01%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.05%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.16%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 0.81% or 0.76 points to trade at 95.12 at the close. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) added 0.76% or 0.50 points to end at 66.58 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) was up 0.73% or 1.83 points to 252.89 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which lost 1.90% or 1.10 points to trade at 56.70 in late trade. Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) declined 1.03% or 0.73 points to end at 70.03 and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) shed 1.01% or 0.84 points to 82.46.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) which rose 3.52% to 25.57, United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) which was up 3.15% to settle at 75.59 and Global Payments Inc (NYSE:GPN) which gained 2.99% to close at 80.61.
The worst performers were Macy’s Inc (NYSE:M) which was down 4.36% to 31.77 in late trade, Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) which lost 4.35% to settle at 170.24 and Perrigo Co (NYSE:PRGO) which was down 3.71% to 72.76 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Rennova Health Inc (NASDAQ:RNVA) which rose 38.35% to 2.850, BioScrip Inc (NASDAQ:BIOS) which was up 26.03% to settle at 1.840 and Alphatec Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ATEC) which gained 17.14% to close at 4.5800.
The worst performers were Atlantic Alliance Partnership Corp (NASDAQ:AAPC) which was down 21.35% to 14.00 in late trade, Nutanix Inc (NASDAQ:NTNX) which lost 26.09% to settle at 23.00 and Immersion Corporation (NASDAQ:IMMR) which was down 19.74% to 8.58 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1620 to 1585 and 50 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1281 fell and 1222 advanced, while 117 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 7.03% to 10.98.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.18% or 2.25 to $1235.15 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 1.16% or 0.61 to hit $53.22 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 1.31% or 0.72 to trade at $55.80 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 1.09% to 1.0621, while USD/JPY fell 0.43% to 113.93.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.79% at 101.35.