Investing.com – U.S. equities were lower at the close on Friday, as losses in the Telecoms, Healthcare and Utilities sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.55%, while the S&P 500 index declined 0.29%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.13%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 1.91% or 4.60 points to trade at 245.18 at the close. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) added 1.02% or 0.98 points to end at 97.29 and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) was up 0.88% or 1.34 points to 154.22 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which lost 2.46% or 2.75 points to trade at 109.00 in late trade. Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) declined 2.30% or 3.62 points to end at 153.49 and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) shed 2.10% or 3.19 points to 148.80.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Schlumberger NV (NYSE:SLB) which rose 8.61% to 53.35, Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) which was up 7.79% to settle at 35.58 and DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ:DISH) which gained 6.90% to close at 7.28.
The worst performers were Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) which was down 3.48% to 275.07 in late trade, Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) which lost 2.46% to settle at 430.14 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) which was down 2.46% to 109.00 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Gorilla Technology Group Inc (NASDAQ:GRRR) which rose 124.88% to 4.70, Vinco Ventures Inc (NASDAQ:BBIG) which was up 56.67% to settle at 1.88 and Castle Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:CSTL) which gained 52.86% to close at 20.30.
The worst performers were Painreform Ltd (NASDAQ:PRFX) which was down 19.46% to 4.47 in late trade, EdtechX Holdings Acquisition Corp II (NASDAQ:EDTX) which lost 20.48% to settle at 18.25 and iMedia Brands Inc (NASDAQ:IMBI) which was down 18.52% to 0.11 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2146 to 804 and 89 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2319 rose and 1189 declined, while 144 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.95% to 14.83.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.78% or 14.95 to $1,930.35 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 2.60% or 1.87 to hit $73.67 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 2.33% or 1.78 to trade at $78.30 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.73% to 1.10, while USD/JPY fell 1.36% to 142.10.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.89% at 101.95.