04:06 PM EST, 11/15/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes ended lower Friday as markets evaluated remarks by Federal Reserve officials and the latest economic data.

* Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said policymakers are on track to achieve economic targets and can continue to ease monetary policy, CNBC reported. "To me, the conditions on the dual mandate side are looking pretty balanced. We should be thinking over the next year, year and a half, the rates need to come down, " he said, according to the report.

* Boston Fed President Susan Collins said late Thursday that a reduction in interest rates next month is "certainly on the table, but it's not a done deal," The Wall Street Journal reported.

* The probability of the Federal Open Market Committee lowering interest rates by 25 basis points next month dropped to 62% Friday from 72% Thursday, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The odds of rates remaining unchanged rose to 38%.

* US retail sales increased more than expected in October, aided by a jump in auto purchases, while the September reading recorded an upward revision, government data showed.

* US industrial production in October decreased for the second consecutive month amid a now-resolved strike at plane maker Boeing ( BA ) and the impact of two hurricanes, Fed data showed.

* December West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed down $1.68 to settle at $67.02 per barrel, while January Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen down $1.42 to $71.14 on indications Chinese demand remains light and U.S. inventories rose last week.

* Palantir Technologies ( PLTR ) shares rose 11%, a day after the company announced a transfer of it stock listing to the Nasdaq Global Select Market from the New York Stock Exchange, effective Nov. 26.