Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Technology and Consumer Goods sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Utilities, Basic Materials and Industrials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.29%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.51%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 1.08%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), which rose 2.38% or 1.14 points to trade at 48.98 at the close. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) added 1.23% or 0.66 points to end at 54.36 and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was up 1.21% or 1.54 points to 128.82 in late trade.
Biggest losers included McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), which lost 4.77% or 7.43 points to trade at 148.27 in late trade. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) declined 2.56% or 3.85 points to end at 146.38 and Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) shed 1.44% or 5.02 points to 344.67.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) which rose 7.82% to 34.18, Universal Health Services Inc (NYSE:UHS) which was up 6.74% to settle at 123.84 and Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC) which gained 6.39% to close at 14.65.
The worst performers were Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) which was down 12.73% to 40.04 in late trade, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) which lost 4.77% to settle at 148.27 and Ulta Beauty Inc (NASDAQ:ULTA) which was down 3.34% to 194.00 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Innovate Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:INNT) which rose 54.15% to 9.48, Zosano Pharma Corp (NASDAQ:ZSAN) which was up 39.38% to settle at 7.610 and Auris Medical Holding AG (NASDAQ:EARS) which gained 26.49% to close at 0.316.
The worst performers were Atlas Financial Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:AFH) which was down 40.96% to 11.100 in late trade, Aytu BioScience Inc (NASDAQ:AYTU) which lost 28.96% to settle at 0.3950 and Tenax Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:TENX) which was down 27.36% to 7.700 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1941 to 1112 and 139 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1959 rose and 605 declined, while 102 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 12.86% to 19.58.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was up 1.36% or 17.80 to $1323.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in April rose 0.71% or 0.43 to hit $61.42 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 1.05% or 0.67 to trade at $64.50 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.51% to 1.2326, while USD/JPY fell 0.46% to 105.73.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.33% at 89.92.