Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Consumer Goods and Utilities sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.72% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.59%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.50%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE), which rose 2.49% or 0.77 points to trade at 31.71 at the close. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) added 2.46% or 1.01 points to end at 41.99 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 1.80% or 1.08 points to 61.20 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which fell 0.76% or 0.73 points to trade at 95.54 at the close. Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) declined 0.34% or 0.24 points to end at 70.10 and American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) was down 0.21% or 0.16 points to 74.75.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Broadcom Ltd (NASDAQ:AVGO) which rose 4.91% to 179.09, Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALXN) which was up 4.82% to settle at 132.07 and Arconic Inc (NYSE:ARNC) which gained 4.26% to close at 21.80.
The worst performers were Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) which was down 3.26% to 57.49 in late trade, Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:SWKS) which lost 3.26% to settle at 76.93 and Urban Outfitters Inc (NASDAQ:URBN) which was down 3.25% to 34.19 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Sysorex Global (NASDAQ:SYRX) which rose 48.28% to 0.4300, Delta Technology Holding Ltd (NASDAQ:DELT) which was up 41.27% to settle at 1.0200 and Opexa Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:OPXA) which gained 40.70% to close at 1.210.
The worst performers were Superconductor Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:SCON) which was down 28.71% to 1.4400 in late trade, Metabolix Inc (NASDAQ:MBLX) which lost 27.80% to settle at 0.368 and Transgenomi (NASDAQ:TBIO) which was down 27.64% to 0.2605 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1590 to 1556 and 95 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1468 rose and 1015 declined, while 128 ended unchanged.
Shares in Broadcom Ltd (NASDAQ:AVGO) rose to all time highs; gaining 4.91% or 8.38 to 179.09.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.65% to 11.80.
Gold for February delivery was down 0.99% or 11.55 to $1160.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 1.14% or 0.58 to hit $51.42 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.72% or 0.39 to trade at $54.28 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.61% to 1.0552, while USD/JPY rose 1.13% to 115.31.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.52% at 101.64.