Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Friday, as gains in the Telecoms, Oil & Gas and Consumer Goods sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Basic Materials, Industrials and Consumer Services sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.13%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.16%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.14%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which rose 1.00% or 0.55 points to trade at 55.41 at the close. Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) added 0.92% or 0.78 points to end at 85.59 and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was up 0.84% or 0.47 points to 56.68 in late trade.
Biggest losers included McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), which lost 1.48% or 1.77 points to trade at 117.65 in late trade. Visa Inc (NYSE:V) declined 1.46% or 1.16 points to end at 78.05 and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) shed 1.39% or 1.25 points to 88.95.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Newell Brands Inc (NYSE:NWL) which rose 6.22% to 52.46, Essex Property Trust Inc (NYSE:ESS) which was up 5.95% to settle at 233.88 and Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) which gained 5.95% to close at 38.28.
The worst performers were Stericycle Inc (NASDAQ:SRCL) which was down 14.78% to 90.27 in late trade, Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) which lost 11.53% to settle at 47.51 and Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG) which was down 9.29% to 39.85 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Cerecor Inc (NASDAQ:CERC) which rose 43.40% to 3.800, TSR Inc (NASDAQ:TSRI) which was up 38.74% to settle at 5.300 and Siebert Financial Corp (NASDAQ:SIEB) which gained 33.06% to close at 1.650.
The worst performers were Seres Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:MCRB) which was down 69.42% to 10.94 in late trade, eHealth Inc (NASDAQ:EHTH) which lost 31.98% to settle at 9.55 and MDC Partners Inc (NASDAQ:MDCA) which was down 29.85% to 12.76 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2038 to 1231 and 31 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1341 fell and 1237 advanced, while 80 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 6.53% to 11.89.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was up 1.28% or 17.20 to $1358.40 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.75% or 0.31 to hit $41.45 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.42% or 0.18 to trade at $43.41 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.92% to 1.1179, while USD/JPY fell 2.97% to 102.14.
The US Dollar Index was down 1.21% at 95.52.