U.S. equities ended lower on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average declining 0.02% to close at 41,532.12, as losses in Industrials, Utilities and Technology weighed on sentiment. The broader S&P 500 slipped 0.25% to 5,512.31, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.52% to 17,409.78. The S&P 500 VIX, a measure of market volatility, eased 0.62% to 14.42.
Decliners outnumbered advancers by a wide margin on both major exchanges. On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,553 stocks declined against 1,137 advances, with 114 unchanged. The Nasdaq saw 2,229 decliners versus 1,194 advancers, with 189 issues unchanged.
Among Dow components, Amazon.com led gainers with a 3.97% rise to $266.43, followed by Nike at $39.60 and McDonald's at $265.00. NVIDIA led decliners, dropping 4.58% to $217.55, alongside 3M at $174.34 and Caterpillar at $800.25.
The S&P 500’s top performers included FMC Corporation, up 6.24% to $11.33, Domino’s Pizza at $350.00 and Lululemon Athletica at $120.81. PayPal Holdings led declines with a 12.71% drop to $53.66, followed by PG&E at $16.60 and Generac Holdings at $183.80.
The Nasdaq Composite saw several outsized moves. FingerMotion surged 129.53% to $0.40, Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp II jumped 95.20% to $19.11—reaching an all-time high—while Core AI Holdings gained 54.36% to $0.39. On the downside, BioXcel Therapeutics plummeted 74.76% to $0.18, an all-time low, followed by Wetour Robotics at $5.72 and Bioatla at $1.74, also at record lows.
Commodities ended mixed. Gold futures for December delivery fell 3.37% to $4,506.59 per troy ounce, while October crude oil slipped 0.12% to $83.43 per barrel. Brent crude for November delivery declined 0.29% to $88.26 per barrel.
The dollar weakened against major peers. The euro fell 0.58% to $1.16 per euro, while the yen slipped 0.43% to 160.07 per dollar. The U.S. Dollar Index futures declined 0.53% to 99.62.
