Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Friday, as gains in the Healthcare, Consumer Goods and Technology sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Oil & Gas, Telecoms and Basic Materials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.33% to hit a new 6-month high, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.10%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.18%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 7.24% or 32.42 points to trade at 480.17 at the close. Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) added 0.96% or 1.02 points to end at 107.34 and Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) was up 0.91% or 0.55 points to 60.90 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX), which lost 2.50% or 3.93 points to trade at 153.58 in late trade. Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) declined 2.38% or 1.29 points to end at 52.92 and Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) shed 2.25% or 1.16 points to 50.37.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) which rose 7.24% to 480.17, Elevance Health Inc (NYSE:ELV) which was up 5.05% to settle at 438.73 and Cigna Corp (NYSE:CI) which gained 4.70% to close at 282.76.
The worst performers were State Street Corp (NYSE:STT) which was down 12.08% to 68.10 in late trade, DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ:DISH) which lost 7.16% to settle at 6.61 and Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK) which was down 6.65% to 42.53 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Frequency Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:FREQ) which rose 77.48% to 0.71, EdtechX Holdings Acquisition Corp II (NASDAQ:EDTX) which was up 46.29% to settle at 63.24 and Ainos Inc (NASDAQ:AIMD) which gained 43.86% to close at 1.05.
The worst performers were Theseus Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:THRX) which was down 72.06% to 2.66 in late trade, Canopy Growth Corp (NASDAQ:CGC) which lost 40.91% to settle at 0.38 and Vivos Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:VVOS) which was down 37.39% to 0.32 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2220 to 763 and 68 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2474 fell and 1114 advanced, while 141 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 1.98% to 13.34.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was down 0.20% or 3.95 to $1,959.85 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 2.16% or 1.66 to hit $75.23 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract fell 2.11% or 1.72 to trade at $79.64 a barrel.
EUR/USD was unchanged 0.02% to 1.12, while USD/JPY rose 0.58% to 138.84.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.21% at 99.67.