U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.85%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Utilities, Consumer Goods and Oil&Gas sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.85% to hit a new 1-month low, while the S&P 500 index declined 1.11%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.97%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which rose 0.88% or 2.03 points to trade at 232.69 at the close. Meanwhile, Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) added 0.54% or 1.00 points to end at 184.72 and Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) was up 0.52% or 0.26 points to 49.79 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), which fell 2.64% or 3.96 points to trade at 146.26 at the close. Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) declined 2.43% or 2.64 points to end at 105.87 and McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) was down 2.08% or 5.66 points to 266.07.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) which rose 2.99% to 338.54, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) which was up 2.82% to settle at 119.43 and Universal Health Services Inc (NYSE:UHS) which gained 2.49% to close at 135.83.

The worst performers were Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) which was down 7.02% to 12.12 in late trade, Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) which lost 6.74% to settle at 193.29 and CarMax Inc (NYSE:KMX) which was down 6.02% to 61.45 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Cosmos Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:COSM) which rose 178.91% to 23.01, Nanthealth LLC (NASDAQ:NH) which was up 98.95% to settle at 5.70 and Trean Insurance Group Inc (NASDAQ:TIG) which gained 91.51% to close at 5.97.

The worst performers were Synaptogenix Inc (NASDAQ:SNPX) which was down 74.63% to 1.20 in late trade, Agrify Corp (NASDAQ:AGFY) which lost 69.87% to settle at 0.25 and Axcella Health Inc (NASDAQ:AXLA) which was down 63.08% to 0.16 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2174 to 875 and 104 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2210 fell and 1501 advanced, while 148 ended unchanged.

Shares in Cosmos Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:COSM) rose to all time highs; gaining 178.91% or 14.76 to 23.01. Shares in Synaptogenix Inc (NASDAQ:SNPX) fell to all time lows; down 74.63% or 3.53 to 1.20. Shares in Agrify Corp (NASDAQ:AGFY) fell to all time lows; down 69.87% or 0.57 to 0.25. Shares in Axcella Health Inc (NASDAQ:AXLA) fell to all time lows; down 63.08% or 0.28 to 0.16.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.92% to 22.62.

Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.84% or 15.10 to $1,802.90 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 2.33% or 1.77 to hit $74.34 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 2.64% or 2.14 to trade at $79.07 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.37% to 1.06, while USD/JPY fell 0.78% to 136.68.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.22% at 104.43.