U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.50%

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 0.50%, while the index gained 0.99%, and the index added 1.90%.

The best performers of the session on the were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:), which rose 6.60% or 2.28 points to trade at 36.83 at the close. Meanwhile, Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:) added 2.81% or 4.28 points to end at 156.39 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:) was up 2.31% or 7.65 points to 338.37 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:), which fell 2.71% or 0.83 points to trade at 29.80 at the close. Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:) declined 1.72% or 0.91 points to end at 52.09 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:) was down 0.92% or 1.60 points to 173.27.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ:) which rose 11.60% to 7.79, T. Rowe Price Group Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 8.27% to settle at 126.79 and Newell Brands Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 7.71% to close at 11.04.

The worst performers were Live Nation Entertainment Inc (NYSE:) which was down 7.82% to 89.35 in late trade, Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:) which lost 7.48% to settle at 154.33 and Mohawk Industries Inc (NYSE:) which was down 6.91% to 107.06 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Aurora Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:) which rose 113.21% to 44.05, Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 54.02% to settle at 167.19 and Bluejay Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 46.36% to close at 7.83.

The worst performers were Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp (NASDAQ:) which was down 39.89% to 1.07 in late trade, G Medical Innovations Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:) which lost 35.77% to settle at 0.22 and Sleep Number Corp (NASDAQ:) which was down 29.36% to 27.17 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2124 to 831 and 67 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2546 rose and 963 declined, while 122 ended unchanged.

Shares in Aurora Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:) rose to all time highs; gaining 113.21% or 23.39 to 44.05. Shares in Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; down 39.89% or 0.71 to 1.07. Shares in Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 54.02% or 58.64 to 167.19. Shares in G Medical Innovations Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; falling 35.77% or 0.12 to 0.22.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 7.49% to 13.33.

Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.66% or 12.85 to $1,958.55 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.66% or 0.53 to hit $80.62 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.79% or 0.66 to trade at $84.45 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.45% to 1.10, while USD/JPY rose 1.19% to 141.10.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.12% at 101.42.