Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Friday, as losses in the Technology, Basic Materials and Financials sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.04%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.18%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.36%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), which rose 2.07% or 3.32 points to trade at 163.94 at the close. General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) added 1.57% or 0.49 points to end at 31.75 and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) was up 1.00% or 1.20 points to 121.60 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which lost 2.06% or 1.95 points to trade at 92.58 in late trade. Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) declined 1.69% or 4.10 points to end at 238.90 and Visa Inc (NYSE:V) shed 1.45% or 1.15 points to 78.35.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) which rose 7.67% to 35.11, Williams Companies Inc (NYSE:WMB) which was up 5.80% to settle at 30.81 and Endo International PLC (NASDAQ:ENDP) which gained 3.75% to close at 16.03.
The worst performers were Nordstrom Inc (NYSE:JWN) which was down 8.68% to 50.48 in late trade, Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) which lost 7.97% to settle at 51.14 and Macy’s Inc (NYSE:M) which was down 6.65% to 37.47 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Aptose Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:APTO) which rose 45.71% to 1.530, Wins Finance Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:WINS) which was up 44.44% to settle at 162.64 and Evoke Pharm (NASDAQ:EVOK) which gained 43.75% to close at 2.07.
The worst performers were RXI Pharmaceuticals Corp (NASDAQ:RXII) which was down 38.67% to 0.8463 in late trade, xG Technology Inc (NASDAQ:XGTI) which lost 28.12% to settle at 2.3000 and XBiotech Inc (NASDAQ:XBIT) which was down 22.21% to 9.98 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1819 to 1406 and 35 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1339 fell and 1196 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 4.85% to 12.17.
In commodities trading, Gold for February delivery was up 0.50% or 5.65 to $1135.45 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 2.14% or 1.09 to hit $51.99 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 2.37% or 1.28 to trade at $55.30 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.31% to 1.0446, while USD/JPY fell 0.18% to 117.98.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.29% at 102.85.