By Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Financials, Utilities and Technology sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.18%, while the S&P 500 index gained 1.09%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 1.07%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), which rose 3.16% or 4.14 points to trade at 134.82 at the close. Meanwhile, Unitedhealth Group (NYSE:UNH) added 2.29% or 11.22 points to end at 500.47 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) was up 2.23% or 12.35 points to 566.34 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which fell 1.38% or 1.37 points to trade at 98.15 at the close. Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) declined 1.24% or 1.16 points to end at 92.24 and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) was down 0.67% or 1.13 points to 168.06.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH) which rose 8.60% to 71.46, Palantir Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:PLTR) which was up 8.53% to settle at 80.54 and Match Group Inc (NASDAQ:MTCH) which gained 6.70% to close at 33.76.
The worst performers were Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) which was down 3.46% to 421.06 in late trade, Old Dominion Freight Line Inc (NASDAQ:ODFL) which lost 3.39% to settle at 181.37 and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) which was down 1.73% to 585.25 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Nvni Group Ltd (NASDAQ:NVNI) which rose 221.35% to 8.58, My Size Inc (NASDAQ:MYSZ) which was up 212.50% to settle at 4.25 and Intchains Group Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:ICG) which gained 106.84% to close at 8.77.
The worst performers were Cyngn Inc (NASDAQ:CYN) which was down 70.88% to 0.47 in late trade, Molecular Templates Inc (NASDAQ:MTEM) which lost 54.67% to settle at 0.16 and Painreform Ltd (NASDAQ:PRFX) which was down 52.51% to 5.30 at the close.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2072 to 745 and 68 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2121 rose and 1178 declined, while 128 ended unchanged.
Shares in Palantir Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:PLTR) rose to all time highs; up 8.53% or 6.33 to 80.54. Shares in Nvni Group Ltd (NASDAQ:NVNI) rose to 52-week highs; up 221.35% or 5.91 to 8.58. Shares in Cyngn Inc (NASDAQ:CYN) fell to all time lows; losing 70.88% or 1.14 to 0.47. Shares in Molecular Templates Inc (NASDAQ:MTEM) fell to all time lows; falling 54.67% or 0.19 to 0.16.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 23.79% to 18.36.
Gold Futures for February delivery was up 1.23% or 32.01 to $2,640.11 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 1.57% or 1.11 to hit $69.47 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.03% or 0.02 to trade at $72.90 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.61% to 1.04, while USD/JPY fell 0.64% to 156.41.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.53% at 107.58.