Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the , and sectors propelled shares higher.

By the end of trading in New York, it was up 0.07%, while it was up 0.11%, consolidating its position at 0.09%.

Among the top performers for the day were Procter & Gamble (NYSE: NYSE ), which rose 3.46% or 5.22 points to end at 156.07. On the other hand, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: ) added 1.53% or 1.50 points to end at 99.57 while Merck & Co . (NYSE: ) added 1.05% or 1.20 points to 115.37.

In terms of worst performance at the close of the day’s trade, Intel Group (NASDAQ: ) lost 1.81% or 0.56 points to trade at 30.30 at the close. The Dow Inc (NYSE: ) declined 1.49% or 0.83 points to end at 54.87. Boeing Co (NYSE: ) declined 1.00% or 2.08 points to end at 205.15.

On the other hand, the best performer in the S&P 500 index was Baxter International, Inc. (NYSE: ), rose 4.72% to trade at 45.29. HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:) continued its rise of 3.85% and closed at 281.21 levels, while DaVita Healthcare Partners (NYSE:) rose 3.49% to close at 86.02.

By shares that are not performing today, we refer to the shares of the company Albemarle Corp (NYSE: ), which fell 10.01% to end the session at 173.73, while WR Berkeley Corp (NYSE: ), which lost 9.26% to 57.49 and price per share. SVB Financial Gro (OTC:), which weakened 7.75% in today’s session to close at 0.71.

On the other hand, the best performer on Nasdaq index was Appreciate Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ), which rose 228.44% at the price of 1.50. Mangoceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:) continued its gains of 60.87% and closed at 1.48 levels, while Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:) rose 58.45% to close at 9.00.

Among the weak performing stocks today we note the stock of Predictive Oncology Inc (NASDAQ: ) which fell 32.43% and ended the session at 0.19 per share. CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: ), which lost 27.86% on 1.89 shares Citus Space Inc (NASDAQ: ), which lost 25.35% to close at 0.28 in the intra-day session.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising stocks on the New York Stock Exchange with 1,625 compared to 1,311, while 102 were unchanged. In terms of Nasdaq stock market, 1848 stocks declined, 1718 stocks strengthened their position, while 162 stocks maintained their value.

Shares of Albemarle Corp (NYSE: ) fell to 52-week lows, declining 10.01% or 19.32 points to trade at 173.73. The stock of HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE: ) added 3.85% or 10.43 points to an all-time high of 281.21. Shares of WR Berkeley Corp (NYSE: ) touched a 52-week low, declining 9.26% or 5.87 points to trade at 57.49. Predictive Oncology Inc (NASDAQ: ) fell to an all-time low, declining 32.43% or 0.09 points to trade at 0.19. Citus Space Inc (NASDAQ:) traded down 25.35% or 0.10 points to hit an all-time low at 0.28.

It measures the implied standard deviation of options on the S&P 500 index, which traded 2.33% lower to end at 16.77.

Gold futures for June delivery were down 1.27%, or 25.65%, at $1,993.45 an ounce. Elsewhere, WTI crude futures for June delivery were up 0.53%, or 0.41 points, at $77.78 a barrel. It was up 0.60% or 0.49 points against the June contract for Brent oil contracts. , and closed at $81.59 per barrel.

The EUR/USD pair maintained its stability by 0.21% and traded at 1.10 levels, while the USD/JPY pair followed a 0.11% decline to reach the 134.09 level.

Dollar index futures were down 0.12% at 101.44.