Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Technology and Financials sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Utilities, Telecoms and Basic Materials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.29%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.16%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 0.13%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which rose 0.87% or 0.54 points to trade at 62.86 at the close. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) added 0.48% or 0.17 points to end at 35.26 and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was up 0.40% or 0.47 points to 119.04 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which lost 1.25% or 0.66 points to trade at 52.09 in late trade. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) declined 0.83% or 0.96 points to end at 114.47 and EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) shed 0.83% or 0.58 points to 69.66.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Autodesk Inc (NASDAQ:ADSK) which rose 8.12% to 68.87, Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX) which was up 3.99% to settle at 33.33 and WestRock Co (NYSE:WRK) which gained 2.12% to close at 48.07.
The worst performers were Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance (NASDAQ:ULTA) which was down 6.12% to 254.85 in late trade, Signet Jewelers Ltd (NYSE:SIG) which lost 3.34% to settle at 80.65 and Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) which was down 3.12% to 27.61 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc (NASDAQ:EGLE) which rose 29.99% to 9.190, Adamis Pharma (NASDAQ:ADMP) which was up 25.27% to settle at 3.47 and Staffing 360 Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:STAF) which gained 21.71% to close at 1.570.
The worst performers were Nymox Pharmaceutical Corp (NASDAQ:NYMX) which was down 23.72% to 3.730 in late trade, Aceto Corporation (NASDAQ:ACET) which lost 21.53% to settle at 20.16 and Ultrapetrol Ltd (NASDAQ:ULTR) which was down 16.32% to 0.3230 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1920 to 1221 and 104 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1256 fell and 1243 advanced, while 115 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 0.51% to 13.70 a new 1-month high.
In commodities trading, Gold for December delivery was down 0.03% or 0.35 to $1324.25 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in October rose 0.02% or 0.01 to hit $47.34 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract rose 0.12% or 0.06 to trade at $49.73 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.74% to 1.1199, while USD/JPY rose 1.26% to 101.80.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.80% at 95.44.