U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.84%

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

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.84%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 1.23%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 1.45%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which rose 2.31% or 4.38 points to trade at 193.97 at the close. Meanwhile, Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) added 1.89% or 2.91 points to end at 157.19 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was up 1.64% or 5.49 points to 340.54 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which fell 2.66% or 3.02 points to trade at 110.35 at the close. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) declined 0.31% or 0.66 points to end at 211.17 and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was down 0.21% or 0.28 points to 133.78.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) which rose 9.67% to 18.82, SolarEdge Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:SEDG) which was up 5.94% to settle at 269.05 and Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH) which gained 5.49% to close at 167.48.

The worst performers were Newell Brands Inc (NASDAQ:NWL) which was down 2.90% to 8.70 in late trade, Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) which lost 2.66% to settle at 110.35 and Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) which was down 1.90% to 63.11 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Baudax Bio Inc (NASDAQ:BXRX) which rose 124.91% to 1.17, VBI Vaccines Inc (NASDAQ:VBIV) which was up 75.00% to settle at 3.29 and Renalytix AI (NASDAQ:RNLX) which gained 43.84% to close at 2.92.

The worst performers were Paltalk Inc (NASDAQ:PALT) which was down 33.69% to 1.87 in late trade, Surgalign Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:SRGA) which lost 32.98% to settle at 0.18 and Apyx Medical Inc (NASDAQ:APYX) which was down 24.93% to 5.03 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2048 to 902 and 90 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1921 rose and 1555 declined, while 157 ended unchanged.

Shares in Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) rose to 52-week highs; rising 9.67% or 1.66 to 18.82. Shares in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose to all time highs; up 2.31% or 4.38 to 193.97. Shares in Surgalign Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:SRGA) fell to all time lows; falling 32.98% or 0.09 to 0.18.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.37% to 13.59.

Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.42% or 8.05 to $1,925.95 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 0.84% or 0.59 to hit $70.45 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.93% or 0.69 to trade at $75.20 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.41% to 1.09, while USD/JPY fell 0.30% to 144.34.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.39% at 102.61.