U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.10% By Investing.com

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 0.10% to hit a new 1-month high, while the index climbed 0.92%, and the index climbed 1.88%.

The best performers of the session on the were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:), which rose 7.20% or 2.77 points to trade at 41.26 at the close. Meanwhile, Nike Inc (NYSE:) added 6.68% or 6.65 points to end at 106.14 and Dow Inc (NYSE:) was up 6.37% or 3.18 points to 53.14 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:), which fell 4.06% or 22.09 points to trade at 522.08 at the close. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:) declined 3.86% or 3.93 points to end at 97.96 and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:) was down 2.99% or 5.22 points to 169.25.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Paramount Global Class B (NASDAQ:) which rose 13.52% to 18.81, Align Technology Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 11.45% to settle at 218.98 and VF Corporation (NYSE:) which gained 11.39% to close at 33.34.

The worst performers were Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:) which was down 7.32% to 492.70 in late trade, Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc (NYSE:) which lost 6.79% to settle at 227.60 and Cigna Corp (NYSE:) which was down 6.04% to 303.82 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were ShiftPixy Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 56.56% to 19.10, Exela Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 50.27% to settle at 0.28 and Ucloudlink Group Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 49.61% to close at 1.90.

The worst performers were PLx Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 37.50% to 0.38 in late trade, Science 37 Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:) which lost 32.06% to settle at 0.85 and Airsculpt Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 30.66% to 3.28 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2056 to 1039 and 102 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2449 rose and 1301 declined, while 188 ended unchanged.

Shares in PLx Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; falling 37.50% or 0.22 to 0.38. Shares in Science 37 Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; down 32.06% or 0.40 to 0.85. Shares in Airsculpt Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; falling 30.66% or 1.45 to 3.28.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 4.33% to 22.51 a new 1-month low.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 1.01% or 17.75 to $1,771.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 2.95% or 2.55 to hit $89.02 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 2.53% or 2.37 to trade at $96.04 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 1.48% to 1.04, while USD/JPY fell 1.64% to 138.64.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 1.73% at 106.23.