Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Technology and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.75% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.85%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 1.29%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which rose 3.31% or 5.06 points to trade at 157.76 at the close. Meanwhile, Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) added 3.11% or 4.13 points to end at 136.86 and DowDuPont Inc (NYSE:DWDP) was up 2.54% or 1.43 points to 57.76 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which fell 5.47% or 2.72 points to trade at 47.04 at the close. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) declined 1.80% or 3.37 points to end at 184.00 and Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) was down 1.44% or 1.42 points to 96.94.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) which rose 7.52% to 43.16, Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX) which was up 6.57% to settle at 43.66 and Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) which gained 6.48% to close at 38.96.
The worst performers were ResMed Inc (NYSE:RMD) which was down 19.39% to 94.56 in late trade, Pacific Gas & Electric Co (NYSE:PCG) which lost 15.63% to settle at 11.77 and AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) which was down 6.22% to 80.540 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were HyreCar (NASDAQ:HYRE) which rose 28.81% to 4.56, TSR Inc (NASDAQ:TSRI) which was up 22.58% to settle at 6.100 and Check Cap Ltd (NASDAQ:CHEK) which gained 23.55% to close at 3.410.
The worst performers were Midatech Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:MTP) which was down 22.38% to 0.127 in late trade, Toughbuilt Industries Inc (NASDAQ:TBLT) which lost 16.25% to settle at 3.04 and Recon Technology Ltd (NASDAQ:RCON) which was down 15.83% to 1.010 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2307 to 718 and 101 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1853 rose and 765 declined, while 87 ended unchanged.
Shares in Midatech Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:MTP) fell to all time lows; down 22.38% or 0.037 to 0.127.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 7.78% to 17.42 a new 1-month low.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 1.75% or 22.35 to $1302.15 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.85% or 0.45 to hit $53.58 a barrel, while the March Brent oil contract rose 0.72% or 0.44 to trade at $61.53 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.96% to 1.1414, while USD/JPY fell 0.14% to 109.47.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.89% at 95.440.