U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.10%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Oil&Gas, Consumer Services and Technology sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.10% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.92%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 1.88%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA), which rose 7.20% or 2.77 points to trade at 41.26 at the close. Meanwhile, Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) added 6.68% or 6.65 points to end at 106.14 and Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) was up 6.37% or 3.18 points to 53.14 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which fell 4.06% or 22.09 points to trade at 522.08 at the close. Merck&Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) declined 3.86% or 3.93 points to end at 97.96 and Johnson&Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was down 2.99% or 5.22 points to 169.25.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Paramount Global Class B (NASDAQ:PARA) which rose 13.52% to 18.81, Align Technology Inc (NASDAQ:ALGN) which was up 11.45% to settle at 218.98 and VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) which gained 11.39% to close at 33.34.

The worst performers were Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) which was down 7.32% to 492.70 in late trade, Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc (NYSE:HII) which lost 6.79% to settle at 227.60 and Cigna Corp (NYSE:CI) which was down 6.04% to 303.82 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were ShiftPixy Inc (NASDAQ:PIXY) which rose 56.56% to 19.10, Exela Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:XELA) which was up 50.27% to settle at 0.28 and Ucloudlink Group Inc (NASDAQ:UCL) which gained 49.61% to close at 1.90.

The worst performers were PLx Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:PLXP) which was down 37.50% to 0.38 in late trade, Science 37 Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:SNCE) which lost 32.06% to settle at 0.85 and Airsculpt Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:AIRS) which was down 30.66% to 3.28 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2056 to 1039 and 102 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2449 rose and 1301 declined, while 188 ended unchanged.

Shares in PLx Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:PLXP) fell to all time lows; falling 37.50% or 0.22 to 0.38. Shares in Science 37 Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:SNCE) fell to all time lows; down 32.06% or 0.40 to 0.85. Shares in Airsculpt Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:AIRS) fell to all time lows; falling 30.66% or 1.45 to 3.28.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.33% to 22.51 a new 1-month low.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 1.01% or 17.75 to $1,771.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 2.95% or 2.55 to hit $89.02 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 2.53% or 2.37 to trade at $96.04 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 1.48% to 1.04, while USD/JPY fell 1.64% to 138.64.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 1.73% at 106.23.