MARKET SNAPSHOT

U.S. stocks ended mixed after the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge showed price pressures continued cooling. Treasury yields fell on the inflation data, supporting forecasts of fast-falling interest rates. The dollar was lower as was gold, which snapped a seven-session winning streak. Oil on the day was higher while ending the week lower on concerns about flagging global demand and prospects of increased supply.

MARKET WRAPS

EQUITIES

Inflation keeps slowing and the Dow industrials keep breaking records. The blue-chip index logged an all-time high for the 32nd time this year after the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge showed price pressures continued cooling last month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%, but the S&P 500 tipped 0.1% lower and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite faded downward by 0.4%.

Inflation cooled in August. The personal-consumption expenditures price index showed prices rose 2.2% in August from a year earlier.

In Asian trading, Chinese shares continued their rally as investors welcomed stimulus measures. Finance and software stocks led the session's gains.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.9%, the Shenzhen Composite Index was 6.05% higher, and the ChiNext Price Index jumped 10%, a record daily percentage gain. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 3.55% as investors continued to cheer China's most aggressive stimulus measures since the pandemic.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 2.3%, its highest closing level since late July. The focus was on the growing prospect that Japan's next prime minister may favor economic stimulus.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1%, inching to a record close as commodity stocks wrapped up their best week in almost nine years. Mining stocks continued to rise following China's announcement of economic stimulus, while the material sector's 9.4% weekly gain was its strongest since October 2015.

New Zealand's NZX-50 finished 0.3% lower. Property and retirement-village operators were among the notable losers. The NZX-50 lost 0.2% over the week.

COMMODITIES

Oil futures finished higher to modestly pare back their weekly loss from expectations OPEC+ will boost production before year-end.

Traders also cast doubt on whether an aggressive round of monetary stimulus from China will shore up demand from the world's largest crude importer.

Israel reportedly targeted Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah with a massive airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs.

West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery added nearly 0.8% to settle at $68.18 a barrel. That marked a weekly drop of about 4% following two consecutive weekly gains. November Brent crude, the global benchmark, added 0.5% to $71.98 a barrel

Attention will shift to a meeting of the OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee next week, though it's unlikely to result in any major announcements, said Helima Croft, head of commodity research at RBC Capital Markets. She argued that the "direction of travel" is likely to depend on whether Iraq and Kazakhstan, which have overproduced, bring production back in line with assigned cuts.

Front-month Comex October gold for October delivery was down 1% to $2644.30 -- snaps a seven-session winning streak.

Preliminary data show that front-month gold futures rose 13.6% in the third quarter, which -- if it holds -- will be the largest quarterly net-gain for gold on record.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Inflation Cooled in August. The Fed Looks Like It Made the Right Call.

The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure continued to show muted growth in August, providing more evidence that policymakers were on the right track with the recent interest-rate cuts.

The core personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, price index-a widely watched metric that excludes food and energy costs-rose by 0.1% on a monthly basis in August, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That's a deceleration from monthly core readings of 0.2% in both June and July.

The August pace was also lower than consensus calls pointing to 0.2% growth, but was largely in line with Fed Gov. Christopher Waller's expectation for a rate of 0.14%.

Consumer sentiment improves for third straight month, as expectations for the economy brighten

The numbers: The second and final reading of the University of Michigan's consumer-sentiment index in September rose to 70.1 - the highest level in five months - from a preliminary reading of 69 released earlier in the month, the university said Friday.

Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal expected a final reading of 69.3.

Sentiment is up by more than 3% from August.

Canada GDP Fades After Rising 0.2% in July

OTTAWA-Signs that Canada's economy stalled again last month has growth this quarter tracking below the central bank's target and leaves open the possibility of even deeper cuts in interest rates.

Preliminary data suggest industry-level gross domestic product was essentially unchanged in August, Statistics Canada said Friday. That follows a 0.2% expansion in July GDP to 2.234 trillion Canadian dollars, the equivalent of $1.733 trillion. Compared with a year earlier, GDP in July increased 1.5%.

The recovery in July from a flat economy the month before was led by retail sales and came despite the hit to several industries from wildfires, including those that tore through the Rocky Mountains and Jasper National Park. The resiliency appears to have been short lived, as the data agency pointed to declines last month in manufacturing and transportation, with the economy likely dented by a staged shutdown of freight rail amid labor unrest.

Elliott-Led Group Named As Winner of Auction to Acquire Venezuela's Citgo Petroleum

An energy group led by Elliott Investment Management has been named as the winning bidder in a court-ordered auction for control of Venezuela's oil refiner Citgo Petroleum designed to pay down the bankrupt country's debts.

A special master appointed to sell Venezuela's shares in Citgo's parent company has designated the bid of Amber Energy, the Elliott-backed energy group, as the best offer following a monthslong auction process overseen by a federal judge, court documents show.

A sale to Elliott isn't final, requires court approval and could be challenged by other bidders ahead of a sale hearing scheduled for November in the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Del. But a designation as the best offer by the special master would put Amber's bid in a leading position in the sale process.

WW Parts Ways With President, CEO Sima Sistani

WW International, better known as WeightWatchers, is parting ways with Sima Sistani, the chief executive who led the diet company into the burgeoning market for obesity drugs.

WW on Friday said it has reached a mutual agreement with Sistani that she will no longer serve as president and CEO of the New York company.

WW didn't specify a reason for the move but said Sistani will be eligible for payments and benefits associated with a termination without cause.

U.S. Safety Officials Urge Boeing, FAA to Address 737 Rudder System

A U.S. transportation safety agency urged the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing to address a potential hazard on about 350 of Boeing's 737 models currently flying.

Accident investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said a flaw led to cockpit pedals that control the jet's rudder getting stuck after a United Airlines 737 MAX landed at Newark Liberty International Airport in February.

The unusual recommendations, which the NTSB issued Thursday, don't necessarily mean the 737s in question will be taken out of service. The safety board typically takes over accident investigations and issues nonbinding recommendations long afterward.