U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.57%

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

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.57% to hit a new 1-month high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.88%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 1.39%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which rose 2.48% or 5.23 points to trade at 215.81 at the close. Meanwhile, Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) added 2.21% or 5.76 points to end at 265.98 and Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:V) was up 1.80% or 3.66 points to 206.64 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), which fell 2.81% or 3.70 points to trade at 127.79 at the close. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) declined 1.97% or 0.73 points to end at 36.34 and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) was down 1.62% or 1.22 points to 74.00.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Xilinx Inc (NASDAQ:XLNX) which rose 14.11% to 120.94, eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) which was up 6.47% to settle at 55.45 and Fortinet Inc (NASDAQ:FTNT) which gained 3.73% to close at 126.18.

The worst performers were Coty Inc (NYSE:COTY) which was down 5.08% to 3.55 in late trade, Nielsen Holdings PLC (NYSE:NLSN) which lost 4.78% to settle at 13.75 and Apache Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) which was down 4.64% to 9.67 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Marine Petroleum Trust (NASDAQ:MARPS) which rose 110.67% to 3.750, VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ:VVPR) which was up 61.35% to settle at 16.280 and Matlin & Partners Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:USWS) which gained 35.87% to close at 0.437.

The worst performers were ShiftPixy Inc (NASDAQ:PIXY) which was down 22.28% to 2.79 in late trade, Rave Restaurant Group Inc (NASDAQ:RAVE) which lost 18.19% to settle at 0.811 and CUI Global Inc (NASDAQ:OEG) which was down 16.67% to 0.900 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1577 to 1478 and 110 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1624 rose and 1248 declined, while 90 ended unchanged.

Shares in Xilinx Inc (NASDAQ:XLNX) rose to 52-week highs; rising 14.11% or 14.95 to 120.94. Shares in Marine Petroleum Trust (NASDAQ:MARPS) rose to 52-week highs; rising 110.67% or 1.970 to 3.750. Shares in VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ:VVPR) rose to all time highs; rising 61.35% or 6.190 to 16.280.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 5.16% to 25.00 a new 1-month low.

Gold Futures for December delivery was up 2.18% or 41.30 to $1936.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in November fell 1.55% or 0.64 to hit $40.55 a barrel, while the December Brent oil contract fell 1.25% or 0.54 to trade at $42.80 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.60% to 1.1829, while USD/JPY fell 0.37% to 105.61.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.68% at 93.012.