Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Industrials, Financials and Technology sectors led shares lower.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.64%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.63%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.55%.
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which rose 1.99% or 1.19 points to trade at 60.89 at the close. Meanwhile, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) added 1.47% or 0.50 points to end at 34.51 and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) was up 0.90% or 0.31 points to 34.75 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), which fell 1.30% or 0.36 points to trade at 27.27 at the close. Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) declined 1.27% or 1.81 points to end at 140.52 and Visa Inc (NYSE:V) was down 1.27% or 0.88 points to 68.68.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) which rose 20.31% to 214.65, GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) which was up 6.08% to settle at 43.41 and Altera Corporation (NASDAQ:ALTR) which gained 4.00% to close at 48.85.
The worst performers were Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) which was down 6.58% to 64.60 in late trade, United Rentals Inc (NYSE:URI) which lost 6.36% to settle at 88.91 and Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) which was down 3.08% to 24.51 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Heron Therapeuti (NASDAQ:HRTX) which rose 60.00% to 19.76, Transgenomi (NASDAQ:TBIO) which was up 39.15% to settle at 2.63 and Torchlight Energ (NASDAQ:TRCH) which gained 25.87% to close at 1.070.
The worst performers were KBS Fashion Group Ltd (NASDAQ:KBSF) which was down 25.62% to 3.28 in late trade, CounterPath Corporation (NASDAQ:CPAH) which lost 16.10% to settle at 0.600 and Gevo Inc (NASDAQ:GEVO) which was down 14.72% to 3.070 at the close.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2264 to 865 and 2 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1772 fell and 1016 advanced, while 7 ended unchanged.
Shares in Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) rose to all time highs; gaining 20.31% or 36.24 to 214.65. Shares in Altera Corporation (NASDAQ:ALTR) rose to 3-years highs; up 4.00% or 1.88 to 48.85. Shares in Heron Therapeuti (NASDAQ:HRTX) rose to 3-years highs; gaining 60.00% or 7.41 to 19.76.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 4.43% to 13.90.
Gold for August delivery was up 0.13% or 1.60 to $1190.40 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in July rose 4.58% or 2.64 to hit $60.32 a barrel, while the July Brent oil contract rose 4.70% or 2.94 to trade at $65.52 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.34% to 1.0985, while USD/JPY rose 0.13% to 124.11.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.17% at 96.97.