Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Financials, Telecoms and Healthcare sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.25%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.43%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.65%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which rose 0.92% or 0.46 points to trade at 50.62 at the close. Meanwhile, Visa Inc (NYSE:V) added 0.84% or 0.66 points to end at 79.66 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was up 0.83% or 0.43 points to 52.32 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), which fell 0.42% or 0.52 points to trade at 123.25 at the close. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) declined 0.17% or 0.12 points to end at 71.96 and Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) was down 0.14% or 0.10 points to 70.75.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance (NASDAQ:ULTA) which rose 9.11% to 233.15, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE) which was up 5.00% to settle at 18.26 and Viacom B Inc (NASDAQ:VIAB) which gained 4.02% to close at 44.24.
The worst performers were CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE:CF) which was down 4.35% to 27.70 in late trade, Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) which lost 2.05% to settle at 12.90 and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX) which was down 1.85% to 11.14 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were SunOpta Inc (NASDAQ:STKL) which rose 26.70% to 4.84, pSivida Corp (NASDAQ:PSDV) which was up 24.19% to settle at 3.850 and Ossen Innovation Co Ltd (NASDAQ:OSN) which gained 18.57% to close at 0.8300.
The worst performers were Hercules Offshore Inc (NASDAQ:HERO) which was down 47.42% to 1.0200 in late trade, Delta Technology Holding Ltd (NASDAQ:DELT) which lost 28.49% to settle at 0.5220 and China Recycling Energy Corp (NASDAQ:CREG) which was down 18.90% to 2.0000 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2138 to 1171 and 31 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1725 rose and 829 declined, while 72 ended unchanged.
Shares in Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance (NASDAQ:ULTA) rose to all time highs; up 9.11% or 19.46 to 233.15. Shares in Delta Technology Holding Ltd (NASDAQ:DELT) fell to all time lows; losing 28.49% or 0.2080 to 0.5220. Shares in China Recycling Energy Corp (NASDAQ:CREG) fell to 52-week lows; losing 18.90% or 0.4660 to 2.0000.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.53% to 13.09 a new 6-months low.
Gold for June delivery was down 0.74% or 9.00 to $1211.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 0.10% or 0.05 to hit $49.53 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract fell 0.28% or 0.14 to trade at $49.45 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.72% to 1.1113, while USD/JPY rose 0.52% to 110.34.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.62% at 95.73.