Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Industrials and Basic Materials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.69%, while the S&P 500 index added 0.68%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.47%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 2.21% or 2.21 points to trade at 102.43 at the close. Meanwhile, General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) added 2.07% or 0.57 points to end at 28.05 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was up 1.89% or 3.36 points to 180.76 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO), which fell 0.54% or 0.17 points to trade at 31.21 at the close. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) declined 0.17% or 0.11 points to end at 63.78 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) was down 0.07% or 0.09 points to 120.79.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Autodesk Inc (NASDAQ:ADSK) which rose 14.69% to 109.91, Frontier Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:FTR) which was up 12.31% to settle at 1.46 and McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) which gained 8.18% to close at 153.01.
The worst performers were Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) which was down 16.65% to 58.72 in late trade, Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) which lost 3.92% to settle at 22.28 and Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) which was down 2.93% to 69.29 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Cumulus Media Inc (NASDAQ:CMLS) which rose 26.90% to 0.4949, Destination XL Group Inc (NASDAQ:DXLG) which was up 21.25% to settle at 2.425 and Sportsmans (NASDAQ:SPWH) which gained 20.51% to close at 5.70.
The worst performers were Bridgeline Digita (NASDAQ:BLIN) which was down 17.00% to 0.5726 in late trade, JMU Ltd (NASDAQ:JMU) which lost 16.44% to settle at 1.830 and Motif Bio PLC (NASDAQ:MTFB) which was down 13.23% to 7.66 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2382 to 843 and 37 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1539 rose and 970 declined, while 117 ended unchanged.
Shares in Autodesk Inc (NASDAQ:ADSK) rose to all time highs; gaining 14.69% or 14.08 to 109.91. Shares in Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) fell to 5-year lows; down 2.93% or 2.09 to 69.29. Shares in JMU Ltd (NASDAQ:JMU) fell to all time lows; losing 16.44% or 0.360 to 1.830.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 17.46% to 12.10.
Gold Futures for June delivery was up 0.17% or 2.11 to $1254.91 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 2.15% or 1.06 to hit $50.41 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 2.25% or 1.18 to trade at $53.69 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.91% to 1.1204, while USD/JPY fell 0.22% to 111.24.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.76% at 97.03.