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

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.05%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.74%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 1.26%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA ), which rose 4.30% or 4.58 points to trade at 111.01 at the close. Meanwhile, Merck & Company Inc (NYSE: MRK ) added 3.63% or 2.90 points to end at 82.74 and International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM ) was up 1.34% or 3.08 points to 232.41 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ ), which fell 2.17% or 0.93 points to trade at 41.88 at the close. Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE ) declined 1.47% or 0.86 points to end at 57.62 and Unitedhealth Group (NYSE: UNH ) was down 1.32% or 5.61 points to 418.64.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Charter Communications Inc (NASDAQ: CHTR ) which rose 11.43% to 373.65, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA ) which was up 9.80% to settle at 284.95 and VeriSign Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN ) which gained 8.00% to close at 272.79.

The worst performers were Erie Indemnity Company (NASDAQ: ERIE ) which was down 11.47% to 361.85 in late trade, T-Mobile US Inc (NASDAQ: TMUS ) which lost 11.23% to settle at 232.74 and Aon PLC (NYSE: AON ) which was down 8.00% to 335.85 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were WW International Inc (NASDAQ: WW ) which rose 168.02% to 0.40, Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc (NASDAQ: OMEX ) which was up 75.79% to settle at 1.50 and Baijiayun Group Ltd (NASDAQ: RTC ) which gained 75.42% to close at 0.32.

The worst performers were Creative Global Technology Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ: CGTL ) which was down 75.25% to 1.51 in late trade, Coeptis Therapeutics Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: COEP ) which lost 38.25% to settle at 7.70 and Intensity Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: INTS ) which was down 37.14% to 0.57 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1432 to 1325 and 80 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1647 fell and 1644 advanced, while 141 ended unchanged.

Shares in VeriSign Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN ) rose to all time highs; gaining 8.00% or 20.20 to 272.79. Shares in Unitedhealth Group (NYSE: UNH ) fell to 3-years lows; down 1.32% or 5.61 to 418.64. Shares in Creative Global Technology Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ: CGTL ) fell to all time lows; falling 75.25% or 4.59 to 1.51. Shares in Intensity Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: INTS ) fell to all time lows; falling 37.14% or 0.33 to 0.57.

The CBOE Volatility Index , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.04% to 24.87.

Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.84% or 28.15 to $3,320.45 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June rose 0.75% or 0.47 to hit $63.26 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract rose 0.74% or 0.49 to trade at $67.04 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.26% to 1.14, while USD/JPY rose 0.74% to 143.72.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.23% at 99.39.