U.S. stocks lower at close of trade; Dow Jones Industrial Average down 2.82%

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

At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.82% to hit a new 1-month low, while the S&P 500 index fell 2.77%, and the NASDAQ Composite index lost 2.55%.

The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), which fell 0.84% or 1.36 points to trade at 161.25 at the close. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) fell 0.99% or 1.82 points to end at 181.54 and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) was down 1.14% or 1.60 points to 138.25 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), which fell 6.55% or 15.16 points to trade at 216.30 at the close. Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) declined 5.64% or 3.10 points to end at 51.91 and Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) was down 4.72% or 6.39 points to 129.07.

The top performers on the S&P 500 were Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) which rose 8.13% to 138.51, SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB) which was up 7.53% to settle at 541.04 and Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) which gained 3.93% to close at 48.93.

The worst performers were HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA) which was down 21.82% to 210.64 in late trade, Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) which lost 17.98% to settle at 11.72 and Intuitive Surgical Inc (NASDAQ:ISRG) which was down 14.34% to 252.34 at the close.

The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Vallon Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VLON) which rose 100.89% to 2.27, Blueknight Energy Partners LP LLC (NASDAQ:BKEP) which was up 38.18% to settle at 4.56 and Cyngn Inc (NASDAQ:CYN) which gained 26.89% to close at 2.69.

The worst performers were Dogness International Corp Class A (NASDAQ:DOGZ) which was down 46.00% to 3.51 in late trade, Fednat Holding Co (NASDAQ:FNHC) which lost 26.48% to settle at 0.53 and Scynexis Inc (NASDAQ:SCYX) which was down 25.80% to 2.33 at the close.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 2724 to 484 and 86 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2854 fell and 933 advanced, while 189 ended unchanged.

Shares in Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) fell to 52-week lows; falling 17.98% or 2.57 to 11.72. Shares in Intuitive Surgical Inc (NASDAQ:ISRG) fell to 52-week lows; losing 14.34% or 42.23 to 252.34. Shares in Blueknight Energy Partners LP LLC (NASDAQ:BKEP) rose to 3-years highs; gaining 38.18% or 1.26 to 4.56. Shares in Fednat Holding Co (NASDAQ:FNHC) fell to all time lows; down 26.48% or 0.19 to 0.53. Shares in Scynexis Inc (NASDAQ:SCYX) fell to 3-years lows; losing 25.80% or 0.81 to 2.33.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was up 24.38% to 28.21 a new 1-month high.

Gold Futures for June delivery was down 0.71% or 13.90 to $1,934.30 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in June fell 2.51% or 2.60 to hit $101.19 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 2.52% or 2.73 to trade at $105.60 a barrel.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.34% to 1.08, while USD/JPY rose 0.07% to 128.49.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.49% at 101.11.