U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.18%

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.

Source: Investing.com