U.S. stocks higher at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 2.68%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Basic Materials, Technology and Industrials sectors led shares higher.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.68%, while the S&P 500 index added 3.06%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 3.34%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM), which rose 7.44% or 12.87 points to trade at 185.92 at the close. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) added 5.79% or 16.58 points to end at 302.75 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) was up 5.64% or 7.56 points to 141.53 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which fell 2.17% or 1.13 points to trade at 50.96 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) declined 0.83% or 4.17 points to end at 495.64 and Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) was up 0.08% or 0.10 points to 123.72.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) which rose 15.77% to 41.76, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NCLH) which was up 15.36% to settle at 13.22 and Penn National Gaming Inc (NASDAQ:PENN) which gained 12.66% to close at 32.12.

The worst performers were Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) which was down 2.17% to 50.96 in late trade, Citrix Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CTXS) which lost 1.86% to settle at 96.59 and SolarEdge Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:SEDG) which was down 1.78% to 286.34 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were USA Truck Inc (NASDAQ:USAK) which rose 112.62% to 31.00, Benitec Biopharma Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:BNTC) which was up 64.86% to settle at 1.22 and Toughbuilt Industries Inc (NASDAQ:TBLT) which gained 55.17% to close at 2.70.

The worst performers were Tenax Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:TENX) which was down 46.86% to 0.31 in late trade, Panbela Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PBLA) which lost 42.80% to settle at 0.61 and Meta Materials Inc (NASDAQ:MMAT) which was down 38.74% to 1.17 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2629 to 516 and 96 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2500 rose and 1274 declined, while 187 ended unchanged.

Shares in USA Truck Inc (NASDAQ:USAK) rose to 5-year highs; rising 112.62% or 16.42 to 31.00. Shares in Tenax Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:TENX) fell to all time lows; down 46.86% or 0.27 to 0.31. Shares in Panbela Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:PBLA) fell to all time lows; losing 42.80% or 0.46 to 0.61. Shares in Meta Materials Inc (NASDAQ:MMAT) fell to 52-week lows; losing 38.74% or 0.74 to 1.17.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.27% to 27.23.

Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.11% or 2.05 to $1,827.75 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 3.17% or 3.31 to hit $107.58 a barrel, while the August Brent oil contract rose 2.76% or 3.04 to trade at $113.09 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.29% to 1.06, while USD/JPY rose 0.20% to 135.21.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.29% at 103.89.