U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.63%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Telecoms, Healthcare and Financials sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.63%, while the S&P 500 index lost 0.33%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.22%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Unitedhealth Group (NYSE:UNH), which rose 1.53% or 4.59 points to trade at 304.10 at the close. Meanwhile, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) added 1.23% or 2.73 points to end at 224.99 and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) was up 0.74% or 1.14 points to 155.31 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), which fell 2.67% or 1.99 points to trade at 72.63 at the close. Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:V) declined 2.26% or 8.06 points to end at 347.82 and Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) was down 2.24% or 5.90 points to 258.07.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) which rose 4.15% to 23.08, CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE:CF) which was up 2.59% to settle at 98.24 and Constellation Energy Corp (NASDAQ:CEG) which gained 2.51% to close at 321.50.

The worst performers were PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) which was down 5.73% to 71.36 in late trade, Dayforce Inc (NYSE:DAY) which lost 5.20% to settle at 55.24 and Caesars Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ:CZR) which was down 4.70% to 30.03 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Mink Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:INKT) which rose 730.14% to 64.17, Future Fintech Group Inc (NASDAQ:FTFT) which was up 150.65% to settle at 3.86 and Above Food Ingredients Inc (NASDAQ:ABVE) which gained 134.19% to close at 3.63.

The worst performers were Milestone Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:MIST) which was down 39.45% to 1.55 in late trade, Capricor Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CAPR) which lost 32.98% to settle at 7.64 and SU Group Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:SUGP) which was down 32.90% to 1.04 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1943 to 818 and 82 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2443 fell and 879 advanced, while 149 ended unchanged.

Shares in Mink Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:INKT) rose to 3-years highs; gaining 730.14% or 56.44 to 64.17. Shares in Above Food Ingredients Inc (NASDAQ:ABVE) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 134.19% or 2.08 to 3.63.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 3.93% to 16.40.

Gold Futures for August delivery was up 1.34% or 44.65 to $3,370.35 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in August rose 3.06% or 2.04 to hit $68.61 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 2.72% or 1.87 to trade at $70.51 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.18% to 1.17, while USD/JPY rose 0.82% to 147.46.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.29% at 97.60.