Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Healthcare and Telecoms sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Technology, Oil & Gas and Consumer Goods sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.08%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.04%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.23%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE), which rose 1.54% or 0.55 points to trade at 36.26 at the close. Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) added 1.50% or 1.55 points to end at 104.78 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was up 1.48% or 3.35 points to 229.37 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which lost 2.31% or 3.69 points to trade at 156.29 in late trade. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) declined 1.86% or 2.99 points to end at 157.79 and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) shed 0.78% or 0.36 points to 45.56.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (NYSE:CMG) which rose 6.62% to 305.63, Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) which was up 4.51% to settle at 68.54 and Kimco Realty Corporation (NYSE:KIM) which gained 3.58% to close at 15.20.
The worst performers were VF Corporation (NYSE:VFC) which was down 11.08% to 74.64 in late trade, Under Armour Inc A (NYSE:UAA) which lost 5.70% to settle at 17.36 and Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) which was down 5.17% to 126.57 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were WPCS International Inc (NASDAQ:DCAR) which rose 23.58% to 2.830, Synchronoss Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:SNCR) which was up 20.99% to settle at 9.05 and ReTo Eco-Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:RETO) which gained 18.84% to close at 8.580.
The worst performers were Apricus Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:APRI) which was down 67.40% to 1.040 in late trade, Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) which lost 33.37% to settle at 11.4600 and Nano Dimension Ltd (NASDAQ:NNDM) which was down 31.55% to 2.30 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1783 to 1304 and 129 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1384 rose and 1139 declined, 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 1.25% to 19.37.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.33% or 4.50 to $1350.80 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in March rose 0.46% or 0.28 to hit $61.62 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract rose 0.82% or 0.53 to trade at $64.86 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.75% to 1.2410, while USD/JPY rose 0.10% to 106.23.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.63% at 89.03.