Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Friday, as gains in the Telecoms, Utilities and Oil & Gas sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Consumer Services, Technology and Industrials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.49%, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.22%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.15%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV), which rose 2.45% or 3.08 points to trade at 128.67 at the close. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) added 2.40% or 6.35 points to end at 271.29 and McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) was up 2.20% or 4.03 points to 187.59 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT), which lost 1.85% or 1.84 points to trade at 97.70 in late trade. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) declined 1.65% or 5.62 points to end at 335.95 and Visa Inc (NYSE:V) shed 1.09% or 1.55 points to 140.29.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Pacific Gas & Electric Co (NYSE:PCG) which rose 37.54% to 24.40, Edison International (NYSE:EIX) which was up 15.38% to settle at 54.45 and NetApp Inc (NASDAQ:NTAP) which gained 4.38% to close at 71.89.
The worst performers were NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) which was down 18.76% to 164.43 in late trade, Nordstrom Inc (NYSE:JWN) which lost 13.66% to settle at 50.93 and Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ:ATVI) which was down 4.89% to 50.94 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were TESARO Inc (NASDAQ:TSRO) which rose 31.48% to 34.96, EMC Insurance Group Inc (NASDAQ:EMCI) which was up 30.26% to settle at 31.25 and The Dixie Group Inc (NASDAQ:DXYN) which gained 15.98% to close at 0.980.
The worst performers were Rewalk Robotics Ltd (NASDAQ:RWLK) which was down 45.45% to 0.24 in late trade, Limbach Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LMB) which lost 27.46% to settle at 6.05 and Euroseas Ltd (NASDAQ:ESEA) which was down 25.45% to 1.230 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1603 to 1459 and 86 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1389 fell and 1232 advanced, 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 9.21% to 18.14.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 1.90% or 22.80 to $1222.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in December rose 0.60% or 0.34 to hit $56.80 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract rose 0.51% or 0.34 to trade at $66.96 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.76% to 1.1414, while USD/JPY fell 0.70% to 112.86.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.50% at 96.31.