US stocks close mixed, post weekly losses amid hawkish Fed comments

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Major indices in the US stock market closed mixed on Friday, but posted weekly losses as the Federal Reserve prepares to make more rate hikes in the coming months.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 137 points, or 0.4%, to close at 34,721. The blue-chip index lost 0.3% this week.

The S&P 500 fell 11 points, or 0.27%, to end the day at 4,488. It had a weekly loss of 1.3%.

The Nasdaq was down 186 points, or 1.34%, to finish at 13,711. The tech-heavy index had a weekly decline of 3.9%.

Fed officials support one or more 50 basis point rate hikes at future meetings if inflation remains high or keeps climbing, according to minutes released on Wednesday.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Thursday the central bank's current policy rate is "too low by about 300 basis points" and it needs to raise benchmark interest rate to 3.5%.

At the final bell, the VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, was down 1.8% to 21.16.

The dollar index rose 0.1% to 99.85, while the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes climbed 1.95% to 2.706%.

Precious metals were on the rise, with gold adding 0.66% to $1,944 per ounce and silver rising 0.6% to $24.74.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at $102.66, up 2%, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $98.03 – a 2.1% gain.