Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Utilities, Telecoms and Oil & Gas sectors led shares lower.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.24%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.14%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.03%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which rose 2.94% or 1.68 points to trade at 58.89 at the close. Meanwhile, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) added 0.77% or 0.27 points to end at 35.24 and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) was up 0.54% or 0.45 points to 83.83 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT), which fell 2.10% or 1.56 points to trade at 72.74 at the close. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) declined 1.80% or 2.11 points to end at 115.02 and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) was down 1.24% or 1.10 points to 87.81.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) which rose 13.54% to 87.36, Foot Locker Inc (NYSE:FL) which was up 11.02% to settle at 68.48 and Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT) which gained 7.08% to close at 29.64.
The worst performers were Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE:SWN) which was down 4.66% to 13.71 in late trade, DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc (NYSE:DVA) which lost 4.66% to settle at 64.50 and Estee Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE:EL) which was down 3.56% to 91.71 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were VisionChina Media Inc (NASDAQ:VISN) which rose 49.72% to 8.070, Lpath Inc (NASDAQ:LPTN) which was up 38.89% to settle at 3.2500 and Pernix Therapeutics Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PTX) which gained 21.91% to close at 0.817.
The worst performers were StemCells Inc (NASDAQ:STEM) which was down 25.30% to 1.2400 in late trade, Olympic Steel Inc (NASDAQ:ZEUS) which lost 16.97% to settle at 21.28 and GWG Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:GWGH) which was down 16.36% to 9.05 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1905 to 1263 and 95 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1253 rose and 1240 declined, while 115 ended unchanged.
Shares in Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT) rose to 5-year highs; rising 7.08% or 1.96 to 29.64.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.70% to 11.35 a new 52-week low.
Gold for December delivery was down 0.95% or 12.85 to $1344.35 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in September rose 0.54% or 0.26 to hit $48.48 a barrel, while the October Brent oil contract fell 0.20% or 0.10 to trade at $50.79 a barrel.
EUR/USD was down 0.26% to 1.1323, while USD/JPY rose 0.30% to 100.19.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.38% at 94.47.