U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.01%

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 rose 0.01%, while the index gained 0.01%, and the index gained 0.20%.

The best performers of the session on the were American Express Company (NYSE:), which rose 1.70% or 2.08 points to trade at 124.72 at the close. Meanwhile, Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:) added 1.37% or 2.50 points to end at 185.14 and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:) was up 1.36% or 3.69 points to 275.15 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Dow Inc (NYSE:), which fell 2.15% or 1.17 points to trade at 53.28 at the close. Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:) declined 1.58% or 1.11 points to end at 69.23 and Boeing Co (NYSE:) was down 1.33% or 4.62 points to 341.67.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were PPL Corporation (NYSE:) which rose 6.07% to 35.64, CenterPoint Energy Inc (NYSE:) which was up 4.51% to settle at 25.94 and Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:) which gained 3.92% to close at 317.94.

The worst performers were Hanesbrands Inc (NYSE:) which was down 5.14% to 14.40 in late trade, Coty Inc (NYSE:) which lost 5.06% to settle at 11.08 and L Brands Inc (NYSE:) which was down 4.22% to 17.70 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were China Ceramics Co Ltd (NASDAQ:) which rose 32.50% to 1.0600, Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 31.43% to settle at 132.050 and Adial Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 30.95% to close at 2.20.

The worst performers were Aethlon Medical Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 47.85% to 1.040 in late trade, Gridsum Holding Inc (NASDAQ:) which lost 30.14% to settle at 1.53 and Aquestive Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 21.34% to 5.27 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1433 to 1370 and 103 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1437 fell and 1217 advanced, while 80 ended unchanged.

Shares in PPL Corporation (NYSE:) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 6.07% or 2.04 to 35.64. Shares in Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:) rose to all time highs; up 3.92% or 11.98 to 317.94. Shares in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:) rose to all time highs; rising 1.36% or 3.69 to 275.15. Shares in Aethlon Medical Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; falling 47.85% or 0.954 to 1.040.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 9.40% to 12.63.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.54% or 7.90 to $1480.20 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 1.00% or 0.59 to hit $59.77 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 1.14% or 0.73 to trade at $64.93 a barrel.

EUR/USD was down 0.05% to 1.1122, while USD/JPY rose 0.04% to 109.33.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.21% at 97.178.

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