U.S. stocks mixed at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.39%

Investing.com – U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Friday, as gains in the Consumer Goods, Telecoms and Utilities sectors led shares higher while losses in the Oil&Gas, Technology and Basic Materials sectors led shares lower.

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.39%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.28%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 0.58%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Merck&Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), which rose 2.83% or 3.01 points to trade at 109.52 at the close. Meanwhile, Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN) added 2.69% or 6.31 points to end at 240.53 and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was up 2.41% or 11.73 points to 499.08 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX), which fell 2.23% or 3.72 points to trade at 162.85 at the close. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) declined 2.09% or 0.59 points to end at 27.61 and Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) was down 1.74% or 2.93 points to 165.18.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Deere&Company (NYSE:DE) which rose 7.53% to 433.31, Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc (NYSE:BIO) which was up 5.96% to settle at 483.06 and Organon&Co (NYSE:OGN) which gained 4.60% to close at 26.02.

The worst performers were Albemarle Corp (NYSE:ALB) which was down 9.67% to 258.00 in late trade, Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) which lost 5.70% to settle at 135.56 and Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) which was down 5.39% to 36.50 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were OKYO Pharma Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:OKYO) which rose 58.47% to 3.74, Pathfinder Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:MVLA) which was up 46.56% to settle at 4.69 and Apexigen Inc (NASDAQ:APGN) which gained 44.21% to close at 1.37.

The worst performers were Arqit Quantum Inc (NASDAQ:ARQQ) which was down 42.09% to 1.47 in late trade, Universal Electronics Inc (NASDAQ:UEIC) which lost 33.01% to settle at 16.38 and Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp III (NASDAQ:MCAE) which was down 32.72% to 4.97 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1693 to 1282 and 105 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 1935 rose and 1680 declined, while 191 ended unchanged.

Shares in Arqit Quantum Inc (NASDAQ:ARQQ) fell to all time lows; down 42.09% or 1.07 to 1.47. Shares in Universal Electronics Inc (NASDAQ:UEIC) fell to 5-year lows; down 33.01% or 8.07 to 16.38. Shares in Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp III (NASDAQ:MCAE) fell to all time lows; losing 32.72% or 2.42 to 4.97.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 0.74% to 20.02.

Gold Futures for April delivery was up 0.00% or 0.05 to $1,851.85 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in March fell 2.75% or 2.16 to hit $76.33 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract fell 2.55% or 2.17 to trade at $82.97 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.25% to 1.07, while USD/JPY rose 0.18% to 134.18.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.02% at 103.81.