U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.55%

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

At the close in NYSE, the declined 0.55%, while the index declined 0.29%, and the index declined 0.13%.

The best performers of the session on the were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:), which rose 1.87% or 4.49 points to trade at 245.07 at the close. Meanwhile, 3M Company (NYSE:) added 1.04% or 1.00 points to end at 97.31 and Chevron Corp (NYSE:) was up 0.88% or 1.35 points to 154.23 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:), which fell 2.46% or 2.75 points to trade at 109.00 at the close. Walmart Inc (NYSE:) declined 2.27% or 3.57 points to end at 153.54 and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:) was down 2.09% or 3.18 points to 148.81.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Schlumberger NV (NYSE:) which rose 8.63% to 53.36, Halliburton Company (NYSE:) which was up 7.79% to settle at 35.58 and DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ:) which gained 6.90% to close at 7.28.

The worst performers were Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 3.48% to 275.07 in late trade, Humana Inc (NYSE:) which lost 2.50% to settle at 429.97 and Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:) which was down 2.46% to 109.00 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Gorilla Technology Group Inc (NASDAQ:) which rose 124.88% to 4.70, Vinco Ventures Inc (NASDAQ:) which was up 56.67% to settle at 1.88 and Castle Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:) which gained 52.86% to close at 20.30.

The worst performers were Painreform Ltd (NASDAQ:) which was down 19.46% to 4.47 in late trade, EdtechX Holdings Acquisition Corp II (NASDAQ:) which lost 19.39% to settle at 18.50 and iMedia Brands Inc (NASDAQ:) which was down 18.52% to 0.11 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2155 to 793 and 74 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2322 rose and 1196 declined, while 114 ended unchanged.

Shares in Humana Inc (NYSE:) fell to 52-week lows; losing 2.50% or 11.02 to 429.97. Shares in iMedia Brands Inc (NASDAQ:) fell to all time lows; falling 18.52% or 0.03 to 0.11.

The , which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 3.95% to 14.83.

Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.79% or 15.10 to $1,930.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, 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.