Investing.com – U.S. equities were mixed at the close on Friday, as gains in the Utilities, Telecoms and Technology sectors propelled shares higher while losses in the Basic Materials, Oil & Gas and Industrials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.29% to hit a new 1-month low, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.08%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.19%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which rose 1.79% or 0.99 points to trade at 56.36 at the close. American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) added 0.46% or 0.36 points to end at 78.20 and Visa Inc (NYSE:V) was up 0.37% or 0.33 points to 89.19 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), which lost 1.50% or 3.49 points to trade at 228.41 in late trade. E I du Pont de Nemours & Co (NYSE:DD) declined 1.19% or 0.96 points to end at 79.60 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) shed 0.85% or 0.29 points to 34.00.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Frontier Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:FTR) which rose 7.73% to 2.09, Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) which was up 7.40% to settle at 28.43 and Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) which gained 5.24% to close at 68.73.
The worst performers were Martin Marietta Materials Inc (NYSE:MLM) which was down 2.93% to 207.24 in late trade, Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR) which lost 2.52% to settle at 51.44 and Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) which was down 2.45% to 59.76 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were HTG Molecular Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:HTGM) which rose 145.55% to 9.650, Staffing 360 Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:STAF) which was up 48.98% to settle at 0.730 and Zais Group Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ZAIS) which gained 29.20% to close at 2.920.
The worst performers were Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:XENE) which was down 52.79% to 4.65 in late trade, Argos Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ARGS) which lost 32.66% to settle at 0.49 and Medigus Ltd (NASDAQ:MDGS) which was down 24.04% to 3.350 at the close.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1658 to 1548 and 47 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1376 rose and 1110 declined, while 111 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.61% to 13.04.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0.10% or 1.20 to $1246.00 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in May rose 0.84% or 0.40 to hit $48.10 a barrel, while the May Brent oil contract rose 0.81% or 0.41 to trade at $50.97 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.18% to 1.0802, while USD/JPY rose 0.18% to 111.13.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.04% at 99.52.