U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.80%

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

At the close in NYSE, the gained 0.80% to hit a new all time high, while the index climbed 0.77%, and the index added 0.73%.

The best performers of the session on the were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:), which rose 5.30% or 13.57 points to trade at 269.40 at the close. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:) added 3.04% or 3.98 points to end at 134.94 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:) was up 2.00% or 0.73 points to 37.28 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Walt Disney Company (NYSE:), which fell 1.69% or 2.48 points to trade at 144.67 at the close. Walmart Inc (NYSE:) declined 1.48% or 1.78 points to end at 118.87 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:) was down 0.28% or 0.38 points to 133.57.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 8.95% to 62.06, Anthem Inc (NYSE:) which was up 5.61% to settle at 297.82 and Humana Inc (NYSE:) which gained 5.52% to close at 335.55.

The worst performers were CenterPoint Energy Inc (NYSE:) which was down 4.53% to 25.48 in late trade, Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:) which lost 3.74% to settle at 144.36 and Corteva Inc (NYSE:) which was down 3.41% to 25.4800 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Senmiao Technology Ltd (NASDAQ:) which rose 154.82% to 1.07, TKK Symphony Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ:) which was up 65.63% to settle at 10.22 and Akerna Corp (NASDAQ:) which gained 56.30% to close at 5.94.

The worst performers were resTORbio Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 86.29% to 1.09 in late trade, Yield10 Bioscience Inc (NASDAQ:) which lost 44.55% to settle at 0.150 and Agile Thrpe (NASDAQ:) which was down 37.40% to 1.49 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1762 to 1041 and 114 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1532 rose and 1112 declined, while 90 ended unchanged.

Shares in Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:) rose to all time highs; gaining 8.95% or 5.10 to 62.06. Shares in CenterPoint Energy Inc (NYSE:) fell to 52-week lows; losing 4.53% or 1.21 to 25.48. Shares in Humana Inc (NYSE:) rose to 52-week highs; rising 5.52% or 17.55 to 335.55. Shares in resTORbio Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; down 86.29% or 6.86 to 1.09. Shares in Yield10 Bioscience Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; down 44.55% or 0.120 to 0.150.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 7.66% to 12.05 a new 6-months low.

Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.32% or 4.65 to $1468.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 1.96% or 1.11 to hit $57.88 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 1.70% or 1.06 to trade at $63.34 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.29% to 1.1053, while USD/JPY rose 0.33% to 108.75.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.17% at 97.857.

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