U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.65%

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

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.65%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 1.85%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 2.25%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which rose 4.69% or 7.78 points to trade at 173.57 at the close. Meanwhile, Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) added 3.16% or 3.08 points to end at 100.53 and Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:V) was up 2.73% or 6.16 points to 231.76 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which fell 0.80% or 0.25 points to trade at 30.99 at the close. Merck&Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) added 0.29% or 0.34 points to end at 117.71 and Procter&Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was up 0.33% or 0.52 points to 156.03.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) which rose 19.22% to 23.76, Comerica Inc (NYSE:CMA) which was up 16.69% to settle at 36.42 and Live Nation Entertainment Inc (NYSE:LYV) which gained 15.04% to close at 77.16.

The worst performers were Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc (NYSE:BIO) which was down 16.79% to 384.95 in late trade, Monolithic Power Systems Inc (NASDAQ:MPWR) which lost 10.39% to settle at 411.27 and EPAM Systems Inc (NYSE:EPAM) which was down 10.33% to 242.47 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Nanobiotix (NASDAQ:NBTX) which rose 234.00% to 6.68, PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ:PACW) which was up 81.70% to settle at 5.76 and Baosheng Media Group Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:BAOS) which gained 62.01% to close at 9.98.

The worst performers were Soligenix Inc (NASDAQ:SNGX) which was down 51.75% to 1.10 in late trade, TOP Financial Group Ltd (NASDAQ:TOP) which lost 37.13% to settle at 10.99 and Aptinyx Inc (NASDAQ:APTX) which was down 32.32% to 0.08 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2523 to 443 and 76 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2663 rose and 916 declined, while 120 ended unchanged.

Shares in EPAM Systems Inc (NYSE:EPAM) fell to 52-week lows; down 10.33% or 27.94 to 242.47. Shares in Nanobiotix (NASDAQ:NBTX) rose to 52-week highs; rising 234.00% or 4.68 to 6.68. Shares in Soligenix Inc (NASDAQ:SNGX) fell to 3-years lows; falling 51.75% or 1.18 to 1.10. Shares in Aptinyx Inc (NASDAQ:APTX) fell to all time lows; losing 32.32% or 0.04 to 0.08.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 14.34% to 17.21.

Gold Futures for June delivery was down 1.49% or 30.70 to $2,025.00 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 4.11% or 2.82 to hit $71.38 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 3.86% or 2.80 to trade at $75.30 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.06% to 1.10, while USD/JPY rose 0.44% to 134.87.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.13% at 101.05.