Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Consumer Goods, Healthcare and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.25% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.19%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.33%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which rose 2.24% or 7.27 points to trade at 331.62 at the close. Meanwhile, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) added 1.91% or 0.92 points to end at 49.00 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) was up 1.73% or 1.50 points to 88.05 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which fell 1.81% or 2.76 points to trade at 149.81 at the close. Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) declined 1.06% or 0.60 points to end at 55.97 and 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) was down 0.66% or 1.19 points to 178.68.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were WW Grainger Inc (NYSE:GWW) which rose 7.51% to 463.11, eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) which was up 5.95% to settle at 76.72 and VeriSign Inc (NASDAQ:VRSN) which gained 5.68% to close at 222.67.
The worst performers were Mohawk Industries Inc (NYSE:MHK) which was down 10.98% to 177.21 in late trade, DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc (NYSE:DVA) which lost 9.55% to settle at 103.20 and Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) which was down 8.71% to 52.29 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Diginex Ltd (NASDAQ:EQOS) which rose 47.31% to 6.850, Bit Digital Inc (NASDAQ:BTBT) which was up 41.79% to settle at 14.250 and Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:GREE) which gained 33.81% to close at 27.190.
The worst performers were Huadi International Group Co Ltd (NASDAQ:HUDI) which was down 39.47% to 17.130 in late trade, Caredx Inc (NASDAQ:CDNA) which lost 27.50% to settle at 51.00 and 4D Molecular Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:FDMT) which was down 22.17% to 24.01 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1776 to 1446 and 131 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1857 fell and 1820 advanced, while 177 ended unchanged.
Shares in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) rose to all time highs; up 2.24% or 7.27 to 331.62. Shares in Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) rose to all time highs; gaining 1.73% or 1.50 to 88.05.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.63% to 16.26.
Gold Futures for December delivery was down 1.03% or 18.55 to $1784.05 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 0.66% or 0.55 to hit $83.36 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 0.17% or 0.14 to trade at $83.80 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 1.01% to 1.1561, while USD/JPY rose 0.38% to 114.00.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.84% at 94.108.