Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Technology, Consumer Goods and Consumer Services sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.27% to hit a new 3-month high, while the S&P 500 index gained 1.73%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 2.09%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), which rose 3.30% or 3.88 points to trade at 121.57 at the close. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) added 2.35% or 2.09 points to end at 91.02 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 2.15% or 3.63 points to 172.12 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which lost 1.10% or 1.84 points to trade at 165.30 in late trade. Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN) added 0.02% or 0.04 points to end at 248.39 and Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:V) gained 0.12% or 0.25 points to 211.33.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc (NYSE:BR) which rose 7.93% to 183.19, Albemarle Corp (NYSE:ALB) which was up 5.98% to settle at 281.60 and Penn National Gaming Inc (NASDAQ:PENN) which gained 5.90% to close at 37.70.
The worst performers were Illumina Inc (NASDAQ:ILMN) which was down 8.40% to 208.32 in late trade, PerkinElmer Inc (NYSE:PKI) which lost 1.89% to settle at 157.91 and Organon & Co (NYSE:OGN) which was down 1.34% to 30.99 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Embark Technology Inc (NASDAQ:EMBK) which rose 84.80% to 1.07, Twin Vee Powercats Co (NASDAQ:VEEE) which was up 77.50% to settle at 7.10 and AN2 Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ANTX) which gained 64.66% to close at 19.38.
The worst performers were Performance Shipping Inc (NASDAQ:PSHG) which was down 44.88% to 0.34 in late trade, PLx Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:PLXP) which lost 36.68% to settle at 1.64 and Imac Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:BACK) which was down 33.36% to 0.63 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2530 to 581 and 128 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2762 rose and 988 declined, while 200 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.32% to 19.53 a new 3-month low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.53% or 9.55 to $1,816.75 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September fell 2.61% or 2.46 to hit $91.88 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 1.69% or 1.68 to trade at $97.92 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.57% to 1.03, while USD/JPY rose 0.40% to 133.53.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.54% at 105.56.